#  Dr. Stella Lee Awarded MIT-MGB Seed Program Funding 

 





November 12, 2025

 

 

   ![Headshot Stella Lee, MD](/sites/g/files/omnuum8391/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-12/Stella%20Lee%20headshot%201.jpg?itok=oGX88H7U) 

 

Congratulations to [Stella Lee, MD,](https://oto.hms.harvard.edu/people/stella-lee-md) Associate Professor of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Brigham Sinus Center of Brigham and Women's Hospital, who has been awarded funding from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)-Mass General Brigham (MGB) Seed Program for the “Bionic Nose Initiative.”

In collaboration with Timothy Swager, PhD, of MIT, Dr. Lee will use this funding to develop and validate miniaturized chemical sensors that can detect volatile biomarkers of airway inflammation directly in vivo. The project will generate translational data to support creation of the first wearable and, ultimately, implantable “bionic nose” for objective smell diagnostics and neural restoration. The long-term goal is to transform care for patients with smell loss, bringing olfactory diagnostics and prosthetic therapy into clinical reality, much like cochlear implants revolutionized the restoration of hearing.



 

 

 



 

 

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