Linda Griffith

Linda Gay Griffith (born August 30, 1960 Atlanta, Georgia) is an American biological engineer, and Professor of Biological Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she also directs the Center for Gynepathology Research.

She is a 2006 recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, commonly referred to as the "MacArthur genius award."

Life She was raised in Decatur, Valdosta, and Roswell, Georgia. She graduated with a B.ChE. in 1982 from the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she was a writer and editor on the undergraduate newspaper, The Technique, in 1982, and was named a distinguished alumna of her alma mater's School of Engineering in 2006. She received a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 1988. She joined the MIT faculty in 1991, was promoted to associate professor of chemical engineering in 1996, and to tenure in chemical engineering in 1998, the same year she joined the newly formed Division of Biological Engineering and Environmental Health at MIT. As an assistant professor, she joined a collaboration with Charles Vacanti, Joseph Vacanti, and Joseph Upton to create tissue engineered cartilage in the shape of a human ear (published under the surname used in her first marriage), known as the Vacanti mouse. The Griffith Lab at MIT currently focuses on molecular biomaterials and tissue engineering approaches for regenerative medicine, drug development and understanding disease pathophysiology.

In 1994, together with colleagues Roger D. Kamm and Alan Grodzinsky, she led development of MIT's first interdepartmental minor degree, in biomedical engineering, which was launched in 1995 and soon became MIT's most popular minor degree. The interdepartmental bioengineering curriculum committee she chaired grew into the Undergraduate Programs Committee for the Department of Biological Engineering, and as chair of this committee she led development of the undergraduate major in Biological Engineering, launched in 2005 as MIT's first new undergraduate major in 39 years. She stepped down as chair of this committee in 2009 to spend a fellowship year at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Lakshmi's experience underscored that of Griffith's own 16-year-old niece, who was diagnosed with endometriosis after suffering years of debilitating pain, which had been attributed to "stress" instead of to a treatable disease. The average delay between onset of symptoms and diagnosis of endometriosis is about ten years; Griffith's niece was diagnosed with less delay only because a family member with the disease insisted she see a gynecological surgeon who specializes in treating endometriosis. The CGR now has over 10 participating faculty at MIT and collaborates with surgeons and scientists in Brazil, Singapore, and across the US. Griffith was honored at the EFA's annual Blossom Ball in NYC in 2010 for her efforts to raise awareness about endometriosis among scientists and engineers.

Selected awards 1977 Georgia Governor's Honors Program (English) 1991 National Science Foundation Presidential Young Investigator Award 1998 Fellow, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering 1999 MIT Class of 1960 Innovation in Education Award 2002 Popular Science Brilliant 10 2006 MacArthur Fellows Program 2010 1st Ruth Kirschstein Memorial Lecture, NIH Office of Research on Women's Health 2010 Fellow, Biomedical Engineering Society 2011 Member, National Academy of Engineering 2021 Member, National Academy of Medicine 2024 Included in Time list of influential people in health.