Summary: While in Boston, Neil spent an afternoon at the Church Lab at Harvard Medical School. George Church is a Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Health Sciences & Technology at Harvard and MIT, As well as a director of the U.S. Department of Energy Center on Bioenergy at Harvard & MIT and Director of the Center for Computational Genetics at Harvard Medical School. He co-developed the first direct genomic sequencing method in 1984 which helped initiate the Human Genome Project and resulted in the first commercial genome sequence of the human pathogen Helicobacter pylori in 1994. His revolutionary approach pioneered the use of automation to analyze millions of genetic sequences in one run, and his current research focuses on new technologies in personal genomics leading to his initiation of the Personal Genome Project in 2005. George Church sits on the advisory board of more than 14 biotech companies, including personal genomics startup 23andMe and biofuel pioneers LS9.
