About Jeff

Dr. Jeff Karp is a leading Canadian biomedical engineer, inventor, and professor at Harvard Medical School and MIT who uses inspiration from nature and evolution to solve complex medical problems. He currently serves as a Distinguished Chair at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Jeff’s innovative research, often called “bioinspiration,” has led to over 100 patents and the founding of 13 companies that have collectively raised over $600 million. His inventions include a variety of breakthrough medical devices and materials, such as a slug-inspired tissue glue that can seal holes inside a beating heart, and regenerative therapies for hearing loss and other disorders. His work has been recognized by Popular Mechanics as one of the “Top 20 New Biotech Breakthroughs that Will Change Medicine.” Beyond his scientific achievements, Dr. Karp is an acclaimed mentor, with over 30 former trainees successfully launching their own faculty careers around the globe. His dedication to teaching stems partly from his own struggles with undiagnosed ADHD as a child, which inspired him to develop a personal framework called “Life Ignition Tools (LIT)” to foster innovation and holistic growth. A widely published author and fellow of numerous professional societies, Jeff continues to serve as an affiliate faculty member at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. In 2024, he also released his first book, LIT: Life Ignition Tools, sharing his philosophy on using unconventional thinking for personal and professional breakthroughs.