A $21 million gift from philanthropist Thea Berggren to the University of Chicago has launched the Berggren Center for Quantum Biology and Medicine. The center positions the university and academic medical center at the forefront of a new scientific frontier that integrates quantum technology — which achieves powerful computation and sensing by leveraging properties of the smallest particles of matter — with biology to revolutionize medicine.
“The University of Chicago is a world leader in quantum science, sensing, and computing, as well as in biomedical research,” said Julian Solway, MD, Professor Emeritus of Medicine, Pediatrics, and Family Medicine, and founding director of the Institute for Translational Medicine. “It’s a match made in heaven for translational innovation.”
The center will be co-led by Solway and Greg Engel, PhD, Professor at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering.
The center has three major aims:
- Train a new generation of physician scientists versed in quantum tools
- Bring together experts in physics, biomedicine and medicine to develop relevant quantum technologies
- Advance the clinical adoption of quantum tools with deep understanding of both the technology and healthcare needs
“This is the doorstep of a new frontier,” Solway said. “We don’t yet know where quantum medicine will have its greatest or most useful impact, and we also don’t know where challenges will arise, but this center will embed UChicago in that journey.”
“UChicago’s deep history of pushing the envelope of physics knowledge has led to key medical advances in fields like chemotherapy and radiation oncology,” said Marcus Clark, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the UChicago Medical Scientist Training Program, which will soon offer students the opportunity to pursue a dedicated quantum focus in their studies.
“It's fitting that this institution will become home to such an interdisciplinary gift that will bring together exceptional students and current and future scientists who have a shared interest in bringing quantum technologies to bear on human health,” Clark said.
“Fusing quantum physics and medicine is no small feat, but it opens the door to tools and discoveries we never thought possible,” said Engel, whose research focuses on new strategies to observe, measure, and control excited state reactivity and quantum dynamics. “This gift will help unite two very different scientific cultures in a common mission to improve human health.”
New training pathways will invite medical students, residents, fellows and PhD trainees to become “bilingual” in clinical medicine and quantum science. Co-mentorship between BSD and PME scientists will be a hallmark, with rotations that move seamlessly from clinic and imaging suites to fabrication labs and data analysis rooms.
“If you’re a prospective student or faculty and you see the intersection of quantum science and medicine as part of your future, we want to see your application,” said Vineet Arora, MD, the Herbert T. Abelson Professor of Medicine and Vice Dean of Education for the BSD.
Near-term research efforts will leverage quantum sensing and imaging to see biology with unprecedented precision — tracking immune responses in real time, detecting disease earlier, and guiding therapies more precisely — so computation and instrumentation advance hand-in-hand with clinical questions. Within the next decade, the possibilities stretch out into a vast horizon.
“If we can make quantum computing an accessible reality, it would revolutionize all of biology and fundamentally change how we do science,” Clark said. For example, quantum computing could enable the creation of virtual cells and organisms that could serve as digital twins for biomedical studies. “That alone would be the greatest breakthrough since molecular biology,” Clark said.
True breakthroughs require scientists to feel comfortable taking risks, but funding concerns can be stifling. “We’re grateful that the Berggren family has done a beautiful thing by providing a gift that allows UChicago researchers and trainees to take those risks,” Arora said. ““I really credit Ms. Thea Berggren with being the visionary force bringing everyone together to achieve this.”
The center will be a destination for people to train and work in this emerging field of quantum medicine, lowering the cost of collaboration and creating organic conversations that lead to innovation.
“During a visit to the Atacama Desert [in Chile], I engaged with astronomers from around the world, and all were inspired by how quantum mechanics is shaping the future,” Berggren said. “That moment sparked a different question: What if we applied the same quantum principles to cellular physiology and pathology? The potential to transform medicine and how we understand and treat disease is extraordinary, and the University of Chicago is the ideal place to bring this vision to life.”
