Domenico Grasso, Ph.D.
16th President of the University of Michigan
As president, he has elevated the Look to Michigan vision, positioning U-M as the nation’s leading public interest university through its leadership, service, and talented graduates. President Grasso launched MXBio Institute to combine U-M’s top-ranked health, engineering, and other schools and colleges with a new supercomputing platform to accelerate biomedical discovery and attract entrepreneurial talent.
Laurie McCauley, DDS, Ph.D.
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Dr. McCauley oversees the university’s academic and budgetary affairs. Prior to her appointment as provost on May 16, 2022, she served as the dean of the School of Dentistry. She is the William K. and Mary Anne Najjar Professor of Periodontics in the Dental School and professor of pathology in the Medical School.
Ganesh S. Palapattu, MD, Ph.D.
Interim Executive Vice President for Medical Affairs; CEO, Michigan Medicine
Dr. Palapattu leads Michigan Medicine in advancing patient care, research and discovery, medical education and service to communities across Michigan and beyond. His broader leadership work has focused on patient access and experience, clinical operations, strategic planning, organizational preparedness, and the recruitment and development of academic health care leaders.
Bobby Hewlett, MBA
Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
In this capacity, he is the president’s principal advisor on financial strategy and management. His responsibilities encompass oversight of the university’s investment office, finance and accounting, enterprise strategic risk management, staff ombuds, facilities and campus operations, campus sustainability, human resources, and shared services.
MXBio Institute is co-led by pioneers at the intersection of medicine and engineering. Our leadership bridges the gap between foundational science and real-world patient impact.
Arul Chinnaiyan, M.D., Ph.D.
MXBio Co-Director
Dr. Arul Chinnaiyan is the S.P. Hicks Endowed Professor of Pathology, Professor of Urology, Director of the Michigan Center for Translational Pathology at the University of Michigan Medical School, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator. He is a physician-scientist, educator, and biotech entrepreneur whose laboratory discovered that the majority of prostate cancers harbor recurring gene fusions. This landmark finding reshaped precision oncology and established foundational biomarkers for cancer screening, diagnosis, and targeted therapies. As a leader in translating genomic discoveries into clinical solutions, Dr. Chinnaiyan has co-founded multiple medical ventures to bring diagnostic and therapeutic innovations to market. His research helped establish new global standards of care for advanced prostate cancer. Among his numerous honors, Dr. Chinnaiyan was awarded the 2022 Sjöberg Prize by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and the 2026 Harrington Prize for Innovation in Medicine.
Learn more about Arul Chinnaiyan, M.D., Ph.D.
Joerg Lahann, Ph.D.
MXBio Co-Director
Dr. Joerg Lahann is the Wolfgang Pauli Collegiate Professor of Chemical Engineering and the Director of Biointerfaces Institute of the University of Michigan. He is an engineering leader and innovator who champions interdisciplinary "team science" to translate advanced health research into transformative medical technologies. A prolific inventor at the intersection of engineering and medicine, Dr. Lahann directs U-M’s Biointerfaces Institute, driving the commercialization of cutting-edge technologies within a collaborative ecosystem that has generated nearly $300 million in research expenditures, 356 inventions, 131 U.S. patents, and 15 spin-off startups. Through pioneering initiatives like multidisciplinary "Challenge" workshops and Incubator Awards, Dr. Lahann actively bridges U-M's engineering, medical, pharmacy, and dental schools with technology transfer leaders to rapidly transition laboratory breakthroughs into commercialized clinical solutions.