First Look Award Presentation - World Medical Innovation Forum

Summary

Two investigators received the 2026 First Look Awards following presentations from 12 Mass General Brigham innovators whose work was evaluated for scientific, translational and commercial potential.

Lloyd Bod PhD was recognized for Cytagonists: Restoring Immune Function by Neutralizing Disease-Promoting Autoantibodies, while Korkut Uygun PhD was recognized for Organs Should Wait for Patients: Creating the Organ Logistics Infrastructure of the Future.

Miceal Chamberlain presented the awards, describing the selected projects as addressing significant unmet needs while showing potential for collaboration and future impact on patient care.

Speakers

Miceal Chamberlain, President of Massachusetts, Bank of America
Lloyd Bod PhD (Recipient)
Korkut Uygun PhD (Recipient)

Notes

Session Focus

Coburn introduced the presentation by describing the First Look program: Harvard faculty from across Mass General Brigham present breakthrough technologies, and a panel of judges provided by Bank of America scores the presentations on translational and commercial potential, producing two winners.

The Award

Chamberlain framed the award around investment in bold, transformative innovation as a growth pillar of Mass General Brigham and a shared commitment at Bank of America. The criteria were research addressing an unmet need with strong scientific and collaboration potential affecting patient care.

He noted that the 12 investigators in this year’s program offered a comprehensive view of breakthroughs with high-impact commercial potential.

The two 2026 First Look Award recipients:

Lloyd Bod PhD, for Cytagonists: Restoring Immune Function by Neutralizing Disease-Promoting Autoantibodies.

Korkut Uygun PhD, for Organs Should Wait for Patients: Creating the Organ Logistics Infrastructure of the Future.

Key Takeaways

1. Two awards were selected by Bank of America judges from the 12 First Look presenters, scored on translational and commercial potential.