in 1996, villa-komaroff left laboratory research, and was recruited to northwestern university where she served as vice president for research of the university. in 2003 she returned to boston, where she became the vice president for research and chief operating officer of whitehead institute in cambridge, massachusetts, an affiliated research institute of mit. since 2005, she has served as a senior executive and board member of several biotechnology companies. she also continues to serve on the boards and committees of several major public and private institutions.