Ingber has authored more than 470 publications in scientific journals and books, and is an inventor on more than 190 patents spanning anti-cancer therapeutics, tissue engineering, medical devices, drug delivery systems, biomimetic materials, nanotherapeutics, and bioinformatics software.

Ingber has been scientific founder of five companies: Neomorphics, Inc.,[3] a tissue engineering startup which led to clinical products through subsequent acquisitions (Advanced Tissue Sciences Inc.); Tensegra, Inc. (formerly known as Molecular Geodesics, Inc.,)[4] which 3D-printed medical devices; and most recently, Emulate, Inc.,[5] which formed to commercialize human "organs-on-chips" that accelerate drug development, detect toxicities and advance personalized medicine by replacing animal testing; Boa Biomedical, Inc. (originally known as Opsonix, Inc.),[6] which aims to reduce deaths due to sepsis and blood infections by removing pathogens from the blood; and FreeFlow Medical Devices, LLC, which develops special coatings for medical devices to eliminate the formation of blood clots and biofilms on materials.

He carried out his Ph.D. dissertation research under the direction of Dr. James Jamieson in the department of cell biology,[9] and his advisory committee included George Palade, Elizabeth Hay and Joseph Madri.

From 1984 to 1986 he completed his training as an Anna Fuller Postdoctoral Fellow[10] under the mentorship of Dr. Judah Folkman in the Surgical Research Laboratory at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

[11][12] Ingber is best known for his discovery of the role mechanical forces play in developmental control and in cancer formation, and for his application of these principles to develop bioinspired medical devices, nanotechnologies, and therapeutics.

[20] Ingber's tensegrity theory also led to the prediction in the early 1980s that changes in extracellular matrix structure and mechanics play a fundamental role in tissue and organ development, and that deregulation of this form of developmental control can promote cancer formation.

[36] Other new technologies from Ingber's lab include development of a fully biodegradable plastic alternative inspired by natural cuticle material found in shrimp shells and insect exoskeletons, known as “Shrilk”;[37] a mechanically activated nanotherapeutic that selectively directs clot-busting drugs to sites of vascular occlusion while minimizing unintended bleeding;[38] an siRNA nanoparticle therapy that prevents breast cancer progression;[39] a dialysis-like sepsis device that cleanses blood of all infectious pathogens, fungi and toxins without requiring prior identification;[40] a surface coating for medical materials and devices that prevents clot formation and bacteria accumulation that reduces the need for use of conventional anticoagulant drugs that frequently result in life-threatening side effects,[26] and a computational approach to diagnostics and therapeutics that incorporates both animation and molecular modeling software to virtually develop and test potential drugs designed to fit precisely into their targets’ molecular structures.

He has been an external reviewer of multiple NRC reports, including “Plan for the International Space Station,” “Future Biotechnology Research on the International Space Station,”[44] "Assessment of Directions in Microgravity and Physical Sciences Research at NASA",[45] and “The Astrophysical Context of Life.”[46] Ingber also has served as a consultant[citation needed] to numerous companies in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and cosmetics industries, including Merck, Roche, Astrazeneca, Biogen, Chanel, and L’Oreal, among others.