Giovanni Traverso is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and also a gastroenterologist in the Division of Gastroenterology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Harvard Medical School. Dr. Traverso grew up in Peru, Canada and the United Kingdom. He received his BA from Trinity College, University of Cambridge, UK, and his PhD from Johns Hopkins University.  He subsequently completed medical school at the University of Cambridge, internal medicine residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and his gastroenterology fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital, both at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Traverso’s previous work focused on the development of novel molecular tests for the early detection of colon cancer. For his post-doctoral research, he transitioned to the fields of chemical and biomedical engineering at MIT where he developed a series of novel technologies for drug delivery as well as physiological sensing via the gastrointestinal tract.

His current research program is focused on developing the next generation of drug delivery systems to enable safe and efficient delivery of therapeutics, biomedical device to support new modes of drug administration and sensing a broad array of physiologic and pathophysiologic signals. Additionally, Dr. Traverso continues his efforts towards the development of novel diagnostic tests that enable the early detection of cancer.