Dr. Trevejo Honored for Career, Community Work

Jose M. Trevejo, MD, PhD, was recently honored as one of 20 On The Move by the Boston Business Journal and El Planeta through their inaugural awards recognizing Hispanic leaders making a difference in Boston. Dr. Trevejo and other designees were selected from more than 150 nominations.

A physician-researcher, he has been a CIMIT investigator with his work in “novel clinical diagnostics using differential mobility spectrometry and bioinformatics pattern recognition.” He currently is the principal investigator for the Tuberculosis Diagnosis Project at Draper’s Biomedical Engineering Center. He and his team are developing a portable device to detect TB metabolites in a person’s breath and perform diagnostic analysis in the field, particularly in resource-poor settings around the globe. The project is funded in part by the World Health Organization, Draper’s internal R&D program, and private industry.

Dr. Trevejo holds a joint appointment at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School, where he sees patients in an infectious disease clinic. Officials conferring the prize called him “an extraordinary leader and innovator in developing, applying, and bringing to market new technologies that will greatly advance the rapid diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases. His work holds the potential to transform the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory infectious diseases, particularly in the developing world.”

Dr. Trevejo makes time to encourage Hispanics and other members of minority groups to pursue education and careers in science and engineering. With the Northeastern University biology student he currently is mentoring, Dr. Trevejo represented Draper at the national conference of the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science in October. He serves on Draper’s Diversity Team, working closely with the director of Draper’s Education Office to attract minority students to the Draper Laboratory Fellow Program for graduate students. Previously in his career and education, Dr. Trevejo supported diversity outreach activities at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and at Cornell University medical college. Dr. Trevejo states in response to the award, “I am honored to receive an award that emphasizes the importance of diversity. Integrating different perspectives and disciplines at all levels is essential for innovation and development of technologies that will have an impact on people’s lives. I also appreciate the support that has come from Draper Laboratory as well as organizations such as CIMIT.”

Dale Larson, director of biomedical engineering at Draper, said, “Jose is a doctor, micro-biologist, technologist, teacher, mentor, and astute business manager. He understands the synergy needed between engineering and the life sciences to effectively bring new diagnostic tools and therapies to real-world use. Most importantly, he brings a passion to his work in developing solutions to the problem of how to commercialize technology for the betterment of humankind, to improve healthcare around the globe.”