Here’s an inspiring piece in The New York Times about Eric Lander, a charismatic and whip-smart leader in medical research who is fostering collaboration on a massive scale. His main goal in founding The Broad Institute of Harvard and M.I.T., which he heads, was to create a permanent environment where scientists and researchers could do the collaborative work that many of them were already doing informally. The Institute’s (mind-blowing) goals, according to Lander:

“Assemble a complete picture of the molecular components of life. Define the biological circuits that underlie cellular responses. Uncover the molecular basis of major inherited diseases. Unearth all the mutations that underlie different cancer types. Discover the molecular basis of major infectious diseases. Transform the process of therapeutic discovery and development.”