Visionaries

A series of reports on innovators in Greater Boston.

Jack Strominger consults with his team about a pending grant. Left to right: Angela Crespo, Qin Li, Tamara Tilburgs, Strominger (front), Sarika Kshirsagar (back).(Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Harvard Professor Still 'Playing Science' And Winning Federal Grants At Almost 94

He has typical age-related health issues but his mind has remained very clear -- perhaps "because I use it all the time."

Local Coverage

05:56Jul 12, 2019

Arlene Sharpe, right, watches as Graduate Student Emily Gaudiano removes a rack of samples of cancer cell lines from mice from a freezer at the Sharpe Laboratory at Harvard Medical School. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Arlene Sharpe's Science Helps Cancer Patients, And 'It Doesn't Get Better Than That'

The chair of Harvard's new immunology department helped pioneer the science behind the most promising new type of cancer treatment in decades -- and it all began with lima beans...

Local Coverage

08:19Apr 26, 2019

Feng Zhang, in a 2015 file photo (Susan Walsh/AP)

CRISPR Wizard Feng Zhang: The Making Of A Sunny Science Superstar

By any measure -- papers, prizes, impact -- Zhang is a science superstar, one of the most inventive life scientists in the world. And he’s only 35.

Local Coverage

07:32Apr 26, 2018

Harvard Medical School's George Church listens to a panel discussion at the National Academy of Sciences international summit on the safety and ethics of human gene editing in Washington, on Dec. 1, 2015. (Susan Walsh/AP)

Visionaries: Harvard's George Church, A Gene-Era Imagineer Who 'Tells The Muggles'

The geneticist is known as one of the most brilliant scientists in the world, and he's eager -- unlike many scientists -- to talk with the public about the powers...

Local Coverage

06:30Oct 4, 2016

Visionaries: MIT Scientist Helps Blind Indian Children See, And Then Learns From Them

Pawan Sinha is expanding the project he founded to combine science with humanitarian work: It provides eye surgery for poor blind Indian children, and then advances brain science by studying...

Local Coverage

06:46Apr 10, 2015

MIT physicist Alan Guth's “inflation” is accepted as the most plausible explanation for the evolution of the universe. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Visionaries: MIT's Alan Guth Made A 'Spectacular Realization' About The Universe

Guth's “cosmic inflation” is accepted as the most plausible explanation for the evolution of the universe.

Local Coverage

07:17Feb 26, 2015

A 'Messenger To Mankind,' Elie Wiesel Continues His Fight Against Indifference

Fifty-four years after the publication of his seminal memoir, "Night," the Holocaust survivor, now 85, asks: "Haven't we learned anything?"

Local Coverage

09:07Feb 10, 2014

Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, of Boston's Brigham and Women’s Hospital (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Visionaries: For Surgeon, Face Transplants Help Patients Emerge From 'Social Death'

We profile Dr. Bohdan Pomahac, a 42-year-old plastic surgeon who led a campaign to do face transplants at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Local Coverage

10:02Dec 3, 2013

Doug Melton in his office at the Sherman Fairchild Biochemical Lab at Harvard University. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Visionaries: One Harvard Scientist's Quest To Find A Cure For His Kids

When Doug Melton, one of the premier stem cell scientists in the world, found out his son had Type 1 diabetes, he transitioned from basic research to a search for...

Local Coverage

10:24Mar 26, 2013

Anne Goldfeld (right) with one of her patients Gizachew (center) after receiving medication for tuberculosis in Ethiopia in October 2010.

Visionaries: Harvard Doctor Bridges Research And Action In Global Health

Dr. Anne Goldfeld does the work of three people: fighting for human rights, treating seriously ill patients in Cambodia and Ethiopia, and conducting research to help eradicate AIDS and tuberculosis.

Local Coverage

09:36Feb 1, 2013

Robin Chase, who co-founded Zipcar, says she won't spend her time working on a company that won't have some sort of positive social impact. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Visionaries: Zipcar Founder Sees Success In Sharing

Zipcar founder Robin Chase believes that collaboration is essential to solving the world's most pressing problems.

Local Coverage

08:14Dec 21, 2012

Outside the Pine Street Inn van, Dr. Jim O’Connell treats a patient.

Visionaries: Dr. Jim O’Connell, Provider Of Health Care To The Homeless

Dr. Jim O’Connell has made Boston a model for how to provide health care to the homeless, and his approach is now a template for similar programs around the world.

Local Coverage

10:31Nov 27, 2012

E Ink Founder's Startup Goal: Power The World With Efficient Nuclear Power

Russell Wilcox co-founded E Ink, the company that took a new technology out of MIT to create and build e-reader screens. Now he’s taken the helm of another start-up out...

Local Coverage

08:13Nov 2, 2012

Cambridge author M.T. Anderson (Adam Ragusea/WBUR)

Visionaries: Author M.T. Anderson, Pioneer Of Smart Young Adult Fiction

Since the late 1990s, Cambridge author M.T. Anderson has been crafting smart, often dark books for teens that also draw adult readers.

Local Coverage

08:37May 1, 2012

Jazz musician Terri Lyne Carrington (Jesse Costa/WBUR)

Visionaries: Terri Lyne Carrington, Jazz Prodigy

From a teenage appearance on the “Tonight Show” to a 2012 Grammy Award, Terri Lyne Carrington remains a role model not just for drummers, but for aspiring female musicians everywhere.

Local Coverage

10:53Apr 24, 2012

Old photographs of Bill and Clara in their bedroom. The couple has been married since 1969.(Andrea Shea/WBUR)

Visionaries: Creative Power Couple Bill And Clara Wainwright

Over four decades, Clara and Bill Wainwright have nurtured countless creative collaborations in Boston while making their own work and overcoming some major obstacles.

Local Coverage

10:14Apr 17, 2012

Tod Machover poses with a Beatbug, a percussive instrument that allows players to create rhythmic patterns, during a rehearsal of his Toy Symphony in New York City on May 17, 2003. (AP)

Visionaries: Musical Innovator Tod Machover

We begin a new series, "Visionaries," by profiling the tech-driven, inventive composer Tod Machover.

Local Coverage

09:59Apr 10, 2012

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Visionaries

Harvard Professor Still 'Playing Science' And Winning Federal Grants At Almost 94

Local Coverage

Arlene Sharpe's Science Helps Cancer Patients, And 'It Doesn't Get Better Than That'

Local Coverage

CRISPR Wizard Feng Zhang: The Making Of A Sunny Science Superstar

Local Coverage

Visionaries: Harvard's George Church, A Gene-Era Imagineer Who 'Tells The Muggles'

Local Coverage

Visionaries: MIT Scientist Helps Blind Indian Children See, And Then Learns From Them

Local Coverage

Visionaries: MIT's Alan Guth Made A 'Spectacular Realization' About The Universe

Local Coverage

A 'Messenger To Mankind,' Elie Wiesel Continues His Fight Against Indifference

Local Coverage

Visionaries: For Surgeon, Face Transplants Help Patients Emerge From 'Social Death'

Local Coverage

Visionaries: One Harvard Scientist's Quest To Find A Cure For His Kids

Local Coverage

Visionaries: Harvard Doctor Bridges Research And Action In Global Health

Local Coverage

Visionaries: Zipcar Founder Sees Success In Sharing

Local Coverage

Visionaries: Dr. Jim O’Connell, Provider Of Health Care To The Homeless

Local Coverage

E Ink Founder's Startup Goal: Power The World With Efficient Nuclear Power

Local Coverage

Visionaries: Author M.T. Anderson, Pioneer Of Smart Young Adult Fiction

Local Coverage

Visionaries: Terri Lyne Carrington, Jazz Prodigy

Local Coverage

Visionaries: Creative Power Couple Bill And Clara Wainwright

Local Coverage

Visionaries: Musical Innovator Tod Machover

Local Coverage

Sections

Radio

Podcasts

CitySpace

Support

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Harvard Professor Still 'Playing Science' And Winning Federal Grants At Almost 94

Arlene Sharpe's Science Helps Cancer Patients, And 'It Doesn't Get Better Than That'

CRISPR Wizard Feng Zhang: The Making Of A Sunny Science Superstar

Visionaries: Harvard's George Church, A Gene-Era Imagineer Who 'Tells The Muggles'

Visionaries: MIT Scientist Helps Blind Indian Children See, And Then Learns From Them

Visionaries: MIT's Alan Guth Made A 'Spectacular Realization' About The Universe

A 'Messenger To Mankind,' Elie Wiesel Continues His Fight Against Indifference

Visionaries: For Surgeon, Face Transplants Help Patients Emerge From 'Social Death'

Visionaries: One Harvard Scientist's Quest To Find A Cure For His Kids

Visionaries: Harvard Doctor Bridges Research And Action In Global Health

Visionaries: Zipcar Founder Sees Success In Sharing

Visionaries: Dr. Jim O’Connell, Provider Of Health Care To The Homeless

E Ink Founder's Startup Goal: Power The World With Efficient Nuclear Power

Visionaries: Author M.T. Anderson, Pioneer Of Smart Young Adult Fiction

Visionaries: Terri Lyne Carrington, Jazz Prodigy

Visionaries: Creative Power Couple Bill And Clara Wainwright

Visionaries: Musical Innovator Tod Machover