Jeff Karp
About Jeff Karp
Prof. Karp is the author of a book called 'LIT - Life Ignition Tools - Use Nature's Playbook to Energize Your Brain, Spark Ideas, and Ignite Action’ that draws from his experiences, and 40 others including Nobel laureates, Olympic medalists, social justice leaders, an indigenous leader, celebrated artists, and various scientists and inventors. LIT serves as a dynamic toolkit for taking ourselves off autopilot, not with fixed instructions but with flexible tools meant for anyone to personalize and enhance. LIT champions the belief that meaningful change is within our reach, inviting each of us to contribute uniquely to shaping a brighter future. Jeff is a Distinguished Professor of Anesthesiology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School and his BioInspired innovations have led to many seminal publications with over 33,500 citations (top 0.1% globally in 2023 Clarivate ranking). He has co-founded twelve companies that have raised >$600 million, with multiple products in development or on the market. Karp was elected a fellow of institutes including the National Academy of Inventors. His inventions include a photocurable adhesive technology for tissue reconstruction (Tissium, EU Approval in 2017) and 3D printed biomedical devices, immune modulation with biologically responsive materials (Alivio Tx, acquired in 2021), small molecule regenerative therapeutics (NASDAQ IPO in 2019), a pathogen neutralizing nasal spray (Akita Biosciences), targeted therapy for brain disorders, osteoarthritis and inflammatory bowel disease, cannabinoid therapeutics (Molecular Infusions acquired 2019), devices to improve child safety (Landsdowne Labs), autostop needles to deliver gene therapy (Bullseye Therapeutics, acquired in 2021), and a bioengineered luminal coating for metabolic disease (Altrix Bio). His work has been selected by Popular Mechanic's as one of the Top 20 New Biotech Breakthroughs that Will Change Medicine. Some notable talks include: - TEDMED talk (2014) on bioinspired medical innovation. - Commencement speaker (2015) at the University of Toronto. - TEDx talk (2018) on Radical Simplicity. In addition to his research goals, Karp is dedicated to developing the careers of next-generation bioengineers at the forefront of biomedical innovation. He was selected as the Outstanding Faculty Undergraduate Mentor among all faculty at MIT and received the HST McMahon Mentoring award for being the top mentor of Harvard-MIT students. To date, 30 trainees from his laboratory have secured faculty positions.