I am Hugo Aerts, a professor, scientist, and builder working to create a future where artificial intelligence helps us better understand, prevent, and treat disease.

Hugo Aerts
Recent Publications & News
From AI Breakthroughs to Patient Impact

We are at a unique moment in history. Artificial intelligence has demonstrated extraordinary potential, yet meaningful transformation of healthcare remains limited. The challenge is not only to build larger models, but also to use these technologies to generate new biological insights, rigorously validate discoveries, and translate them into clinical practice.

My mission is to bridge that gap. By combining artificial intelligence, medicine, and scientific discovery, I work to uncover hidden signals in human biology — signals that can change how we understand aging, cancer, and disease. The goal is not simply to extend lifespan, but to extend healthy years of life.

Focus Areas
These are the areas I am currently working on — combining AI, medicine, and biology to uncover new insights of human health.
Immune Health
The immune system drives aging, cancer, and chronic disease, yet many aspects of immune health remains invisible to medicine. My research develops new tools to assess immune function and resilience — exploring why some individuals remain healthy while others become vulnerable to disease. Recent work has upended assumptions about the adult thymus, revealing its outsized role throughout life.
Aging & Longevity
Aging is the single greatest risk factor for many of the world's most common diseases. My work seeks to develop new ways of measuring biological aging and resilience, helping to identify risk earlier and better understand the processes that shape health across the lifespan. Ultimately, the goal is not simply to extend lifespan, but to extend healthy years of life.
Cancer
Cancer remains one of the greatest challenges in medicine. My research focuses on uncovering hidden biological signals that can improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer. By combining artificial intelligence with clinical data, we seek to better understand why cancers develop, why patients respond differently to treatment, and how therapies can be tailored to each individual.
AI Foundation Models
Artificial intelligence has the potential to transform medicine, but meaningful clinical impact remains limited. My research develops foundation models and other AI technologies that help uncover new biological insights and accelerate scientific discovery. By combining advances in AI with rigorous clinical validation, we aim to bridge the gap between technological breakthroughs and improvements in human health.
Publications
Selected contributions spanning cancer, aging, immune health, and medical AI. Together, these studies reflect a common goal: using artificial intelligence and scientific discovery to uncover new biological insights and translate them into better prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease.
Full list on Google Scholar — 428 papers, 80k+ citations ↗
Media
My research has been covered by leading media outlets worldwide — from science journalism to broadcast news.
Featured in CNN The New York Times The Washington Post The Wall Street Journal Financial Times The Guardian NPR The Telegraph The Times Scientific American The Independent AFP la Repubblica DW NRC
Selected highlights
About

My name is Hugo Aerts (pronounced "arts") — a professor, scientist, and builder dedicated to improving human health through scientific discovery and artificial intelligence.

Over the past two decades, my work has focused on uncovering biological signals hidden within medical data. This research has contributed to the development of foundation models for medicine, and led to new insights into aging, cancer, and immune health. More recently, my team has challenged long-standing assumptions about the adult thymus, revealing its important role in longevity, cancer risk, and treatment response.

I serve as Professor at Harvard University, Director of the AI in Medicine Program at Mass General Brigham, and Adjunct Professor at Maastricht University, where I lead multidisciplinary teams of scientists, clinicians, and engineers working at the intersection of artificial intelligence, medicine, and biology.

My research is supported by major NIH-funded initiatives, and I was awarded a prestigious ERC Consolidator Grant from the European Union's Horizon program. Since 2022, I have been recognised by Web of Science as among the top 1% most-cited scientists worldwide.

Originally from the Netherlands and now based in Boston, I also advise and co-found ventures at the intersection of AI and medicine — and remain inspired by the possibility that the work we do today can meaningfully change the lives of patients tomorrow.

Contact
Hugo Aerts
Professor, Harvard University · Director, AIM Program MGB · Professor, Maastricht University
Emailhugo@hugoaerts.com
Labaim.mgh.harvard.edu
HarvardAI in Medicine (AIM) Program
Mass General Brigham
75 Francis St, Boston MA 02115
MaastrichtMaastricht University
P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD
The Netherlands
ScholarGoogle Scholar — 80k+ citations
PubMedPubMed publications
ORCID0000-0002-2122-2003
HarvardHarvard Profiles
Twitter@hugoaerts
LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/hugoaerts
Harvard University