Scientific Programs

Cancer Program
Cancer is a genomic disease, in which a cell's genetic program goes awry. Understanding the molecular basis of cancer is the key to the prevention, detection, diagnosis and therapy of this disease.
The Broad's Cancer Program brings together diverse expertise focused on comprehensively characterizing the genetic alterations in cancers, recognizing cellular signatures that predict the properties of cancers, revealing Achilles' heels within cancers, and developing new methods to identify therapies to treat cancer.

Genome Biology and Cell Circuits Program
With the successful completion of the Human Genome Project, the challenge now is to decipher the information encoded within the human genetic code - including genes, regulatory controls and cellular circuitry. Understanding these components, controls and circuits is fundamental to the study of physiology in both health and disease.
The Broad's Genome Biology and Cell Circuits Program brings together a community focused on the comprehensive understanding of genomes through genome comparison to reveal functional elements through evolutionary conservation, studies of regulatory control by proteins and chromatin structure, and characterization of cell circuitry through monitoring and modulation of cellular states.

Psychiatric Disease Program
The neural mechanisms that underlie devastating psychiatric diseases, such as autism, manic depression, and schizophrenia disorders, remain nearly a complete mystery.
The Broad's Psychiatric Disease Program aims to discover the genetic susceptibility factors underlying psychiatric disease, develop animal and cellular models, apply imaging techniques to characterize the disorders, and translate research findings into improved diagnostics and care.

Metabolic Disease Initiative Metabolism diseases such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease are a growing epidemic. Yet, the basic mechanisms underlying these disorders remain largely unknown, hampering efforts at devising treatments.
The Broad's Metabolic Disease Initiative brings together a community that aims to unravel the molecular basis of these diseases by applying new insights and tools from human genetics, genomics and chemistry.

Program in Medical and Population Genetics
People differ in their genetic susceptibility to diabetes, cancer, schizophrenia, heart disease, autism, and many other diseases. Uncovering the genetic basis of disease is a powerful way to reveal the responsible molecular mechanisms and to devise potential treatments.
The Broad's Program in Medical and Population Genetics research community works to characterize the genetic variation in the human population, study it in human patients and thereby unravel the genetic basis of human diseases.

Chemical Biology Program
Small molecules provide powerful tools for dissecting gene functions and interactions, making chemistry an indispensable intellectual partner in the study of human biology and disease.
The Broad's Chemical Biology Program community of researchers focus on synthesizing new small molecules for biomedical research, devising high-throughput screening methods, discovering compounds to modulate biological processes and serve as probes for non-invasive imaging, and creating computational tools to analyze and share these data with the public.

Infectious Disease Initiative
Pathogens such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV cause tremendous suffering worldwide, employing ingenious strategies to escape medical intervention. Understanding the genetics and biology of these infectious agents is crucial to developing effective vaccines and treatments.
The Broad's Infectious Disease Initiative brings together a community that combines population genetics, chemical biology and genomics to understand the intricate interplay between pathogen and host and to devise potential new therapies.

Computational Biology and Bioinformatics
Advances made in modern biomedicine are increasingly dependent on the ability to acquire, store, and analyze vast data sets.
The Broad's Computational Biology and Bioinformatics community includes computational scientists and software engineers working throughout the institute's programs and platforms. They share their expertise across a wide range of biological and technological applications.