Aviv Regev Wins the 2021 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science

Aviv Regev, an internationally known computational and systems biologist and executive vice president of Genentech Research and Early Development, is the recipient of the 2021 Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science. The award is presented by the medical school at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. Established in 2006, the Vanderbilt Prize in Biomedical Science recognizes women scientists with a stellar record of research accomplishments who also have made significant contributions to mentoring other women in science.

Dr. Regev is a leader in deciphering complex molecular circuits that govern cells, tissues, and organs — how these circuits function and evolve, and how their malfunction leads to disease.

“I am incredibly honored to be recognized among such esteemed women who have blazed trails in science and medicine and have mentored other fantastic women scientists,” Dr. Regev said. “I believe that computational and interdisciplinary approaches to scientific discovery will be critical in fueling future biological insights, as well as medical breakthroughs for patients.

“Mentoring and collaboration with diverse scientists is critical for sustaining the innovation, creativity and rigor essential as we leverage those new opportunities,” she continued. “I’m pleased to further these approaches and continue to mentor and collaborate with scientists at all stages of their careers to nurture their pursuit of creative ideas that could transform science and medicine.”

Dr. Regev earned a master’s degree with an emphasis on biology, computer science, and mathematics and a Ph.D. in computational biology at Tel Aviv University in Israel After graduation, she came to the United States as a fellow at the Bauer Center for Genomics Research at Harvard University.

Dr. Regev joined the biology faculty at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2006. She was the founding director of the Klarman Cell Observatory at the Broad Institute of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, She is currently on leave to work at Genentech.