Bioengineer James Collins is the Termeer Professor of Medical Engineering & Science and Professor of Biological Engineering at MIT. His Covid-19 research projects include developing a face mask that could detect whether the person wearing it has the coronavirus. One of the founders of the emerging field of synthetic biology, Collins has made multiple breakthroughs in biotechnology and biomedicine, and is also a pioneering researcher in systems biology.

The first bioengineer to receive a MacArthur Foundation “Genius Award,” he runs the Collins Lab at MIT and the Collins Lab at Harvard, and is affiliated with the Broad Institute and the Wyss Institute. Collins received a BS in Physics from College of the Holy Cross and PhD in Medical Engineering from Oxford University where he was a Rhodes Scholar.