Messages from the Dean

Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:

I am writing to highlight some recent recognitions of our faculty that make Harvard Medical School justly proud.

Notably, seven HMS faculty members have been elected to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Founded in 1863 through an Act of Congress signed by Abraham Lincoln, the National Academy of Sciences is a highly esteemed organization that advises the U.S. on matters related to science, medicine, and technology. Election to the National Academy is based on extraordinary scientific achievement and leadership, and is considered one of the highest honors a scientist can receive.

Our new National Academy of Sciences members include:

• Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas
  Professor of Cell Biology, emeritus, HMS
• Gordon Fishell
  Professor of Neurobiology, HMS
• Wade Harper
  Chair of the Department of Cell Biology and the Bert and Natalie Vallee Professor of Molecular Pathology, HMS
• Bradford Lowell
  Professor of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and HMS
• Danesh Moazed
  Professor of Cell Biology, HMS
• Pamela Silver
  Elliot T. and Onie H. Adams Professor of Biochemistry and Systems Biology, HMS
• Ulrich von Andrian
  Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Professor of Immunopathology, HMS

Additionally, five HMS faculty have been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the oldest scholarly societies in the U.S. Founded in 1780 by John Adams, John Hancock, and other intellectual leaders of the American Revolutionary War era, the academy honors excellence, innovation, and leadership. Elected members are drawn from academia, the arts, industry, policy, research, and science. 

The new HMS American Academy of Arts and Sciences members include:

• Karen Adelman
  Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, HMS
• Benjamin Ebert
  George P. Canellos, MD, and Jean S. Canellos Professor of Medicine, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and HMS
• Elizabeth Engle
  Professor of Neurology, Boston Children’s Hospital and HMS
• David Pellman
  Margaret M. Dyson Professor of Pediatric Oncology and Professor of Cell Biology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and HMS
• Wade Regehr
  Professor of Neurobiology, HMS

The election of our faculty to these prestigious organizations recognizes the remarkable intellectual depth and impact of these scholars. Please join me in congratulating our faculty on these well-deserved honors, and for their extraordinary contributions to science and the enrichment of our community.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:

It is with great sadness that I write to share the news of the death of Alfred L. “Fred” Goldberg, professor of cell biology, emeritus, at Harvard Medical School. A cornerstone of our community for more than 50 years, Dr. Goldberg was an extraordinary researcher and mentor who embodied the highest ideals of the scientific endeavor: curiosity, passion, rigor, and a reverence for the intricacies of human biology. He died on April 18 at age 80 after a long battle with cancer.

A 1963 graduate of Harvard College, Dr. Goldberg attended HMS for two years, then took a leave of absence — which he joked lasted over 55 years — to conduct physiology research in a lab in Building C, where he went on to earn a PhD and join the HMS faculty in what would become the Department of Cell Biology. He was a devoted educator and a meticulous researcher whose studies centered on defining how cells break down damaged or unneeded proteins, a mystery that ignited his imagination and led to many notable achievements.

Among his pivotal discoveries was the identification of a protein degradation system in cells, which he named the proteasome and which serves as a cellular quality control mechanism that degrades defective, mutated, and misfolded proteins. Dr. Goldberg and colleagues went on to further elucidate the mechanisms by which cells in various organisms identify, mark for destruction, and dispose of unwanted or defective proteins. Thanks in part to his seminal insights, we now know that the inability of cells to dispose of damaged proteins underlies the development of many diseases.

In the early 1990s, Dr. Goldberg and his colleagues introduced the first proteasome inhibitors to block the degradation of proteins in cells. These compounds have now been used as key research tools in over 15,000 studies and have led to numerous revelations about the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway’s role in controlling nearly all normal cell processes and in diseases involving abnormal, mutated, or misfolded proteins.

One proteasome inhibitor that Dr. Goldberg helped develop, bortezomib (Velcade), is now used worldwide as the standard therapy for multiple myeloma, a previously untreatable blood cancer. This achievement earned Dr. Goldberg and his collaborators the 2012 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize.

It is indeed rare for an individual scientist to uncover a basic cellular process, describe its mechanisms, and apply these insights to developing transformative therapies. The arc of Dr. Goldberg’s journey is a powerful example of the importance of fundamental discovery to advance knowledge that can be harnessed in the clinic to benefit patients and save lives.

Dr. Goldberg will be remembered as a warm, caring friend and a teacher and mentor who transformed lives just as he transformed science. Many of his former students and trainees have gone on to have outstanding careers in science. I have fond memories of his entertaining poetry readings, his wonderful sense of humor, and his demonstrated commitment to the HMS community, even as he endured his illness.

It is a joy to have known Dr. Goldberg and a privilege for HMS to call him one of our own. Our hearts go out to his wife, Joan, his children and extended family, and his many friends and colleagues.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS Community:

Our life’s work is only as rewarding as the company we keep. At Harvard Medical School, we are privileged to be in the company of so many remarkable staff, faculty, postdoctoral fellows, trainees, students, and alumni — people with extraordinary stories to tell and interests and talents that enrich their personal and professional lives as well as our community.

Whether you work primarily on campus or remotely, conduct research on the Quad or around the globe, learn or teach in physical or virtual classrooms, care for patients in Boston or beyond, YOU ARE HMS. More than 40,000 of us — including 11,000 alumni — play a role in supporting and advancing the HMS mission, yet our individual paths differ in ways that cultivate a more vibrant, welcoming community in which each of us can thrive.

It is in that spirit that we are delighted to announce the launch of People of Harvard Medical School, a community building and engagement campaign. Led by the HMS Office of Communications and External Relations and inspired by the Humans of New York photoblog and book, People of HMS uses digital storytelling to celebrate the School’s greatest asset: its people.

We encourage you to visit the People of HMS webpage to get to know fellow members of our community and to share your own story by following the instructions on the page. Submissions will be posted weekly to the Our Stories section of the webpage, and many will be featured on digital signage across campus, in internal communications, and on our social media channels.

We hope the stories shared through the People of HMS campaign encourage new and deeper connections with the individuals who make our school such a unique, vibrant, and compassionate place.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Lisa M. Muto
Executive Dean for Administration
Harvard Medical School

Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:

Today I have the distinct pleasure of announcing plans for a major addition to Building C, made possible thanks to an extraordinary $75 million gift from longtime Harvard Medical School friend and supporter Ernesto Bertarelli, MBA ’93. The outdoor courtyard of Building C will be transformed into an expansive, skylighted atrium that will serve as convening and collaboration space for the West Quad and the broader HMS community.

In recognition of this generous commitment from the Bertarelli family, Building C will be named the Bertarelli Building following completion of the atrium’s construction.

Built in 1906, Building C is one of the five marble buildings — originally named A, B, C, D, and E — that form our iconic Quadrangle, and the last to be named. In addition to housing the Department of Cell Biology and the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Building C serves as a vibrant hub for the HMS Therapeutics Initiative. It is also home to the Blavatnik Harvard Life Lab Longwood, a centerpiece of the initiative that opened in October 2022.

The atrium construction project is anticipated to begin in 2023 and be completed in 2025. In the months ahead, I will share with you renderings of this project. The Building C facade was recently restored and will be preserved, and the new spaces housed within the atrium will be integrated into our historic campus fabric.

This gift is the latest in more than a decade of support to HMS and the University from the Bertarelli family. Their generosity has established the Bertarelli Program in Translational Neuroscience and Neuroengineering, which culminated in a 10-year anniversary symposium held in October 2022; the endowed Bertarelli Professorship in Translational Medical Science, currently held by David Corey; and the Bertarelli Rare Cancers Fund, established in 2019 by Dona Bertarelli, Ernesto’s sister.

As the current chair of our HMS Board of Fellows, Ernesto serves as a sage advisor to HMS and to me. Also a staunch University citizen, Ernesto is a major donor to Harvard Business School and serves on the HBS Board of Dean’s Advisors.

Please join me in thanking Ernesto for his unwavering commitment to and support of our work.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:

Many in our community are reeling from the video footage released Friday night showing the Memphis traffic stop that led to the death of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols. Memphis police chief Cerelyn Davis condemned the police officers’ brutality as a “failing of basic humanity.” I couldn’t agree more.

Such dispatches from our turbulent world are difficult to process. The psyche is further burdened by demanding classes, research initiatives, grant deadlines, administrative duties, and the ravages of this winter’s COVID-flu-RSV trifecta.

One truth remains: Harvard Medical School’s ever-evolving mission to improve health and well-being for all brings us closer to a vision of society that is equitable, nurturing, and just. We lead busy lives, but our dedication to the HMS mission keeps us invigorated.

In that spirit, I am delighted to share with you the 2022 HMS Dean’s Report, which highlights some of our collective accomplishments from the past year. This report is an overview of the effort each of you makes every day to advance the School’s legacy of healing and progress. Thank you for the role you play in these endeavors.

Our work is far from the only source of joy worth cultivating. HMS Clinical Professor of Psychiatry Robert Waldinger is the fourth director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which explores human happiness and has now expanded to three generations, including more than 1,300 descendants of its original participants. Waldinger and Marc Schulz, an associate director of the study and a psychology professor at Bryn Mawr College, have written about the study’s insights in their new book, The Good Life.

I encourage you to read about their findings, which reveal that the quality of a person’s friendships and professional networks are reliable indicators of long-term physical and mental health. This simple premise — the idea that social connections are intimately tied to overall wellness — would not be surprising if it weren’t for our society’s tendency to underestimate the power of social connection.

As we churn the waters of our hyper-scheduled days and the world around us, please take stock of your relationships. Many of us were called to service because we feel a deep conviction that all people deserve the chance to seek joy and contentment over the course of a long, healthy life. May you, too, amplify your own influence by leaning in to the connections afforded by our remarkable community.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Note: If you are suffering from the hardship of current events or daily life, I hope you will go to those you trust for support and solidarity. Harvard has many resources available to support mental health and wellness, including Counseling and Mental Health Services for students, the Employee Assistance Program and Work/Life Programs for employees, and the Ombuds Office for all staff, trainees, faculty, and students.

Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:

Following careful consideration and consultation with colleagues and stakeholders across Harvard Medical School and beyond, I write today to announce that HMS will no longer submit data to U.S. News & World Report (USNWR) to support their “best medical schools” survey and rankings.

Educational leaders have long criticized the methodology used by USNWR to assess and rank medical schools (see references below). However, my concerns and the perspectives I have heard from others are more philosophical than methodological, and rest on the principled belief that rankings cannot meaningfully reflect the high aspirations for educational excellence, graduate preparedness, and compassionate and equitable patient care that we strive to foster in our medical education programs.

As unintended consequences, rankings create perverse incentives for institutions to report misleading or inaccurate data, set policies to boost rankings rather than nobler objectives, or divert financial aid from students with financial need to high-scoring students with means in order to maximize ranking criteria. Ultimately, the suitability of any particular medical school for any given student is too complex, nuanced, and individualized to be served by a rigid ranked list, no matter the methodology.

I have contemplated this decision since becoming dean six years ago. The courageous and bold moves by my respected colleague Dean John Manning of Harvard Law School and those of peer law schools compelled me to act on behalf of Harvard Medical School. What matters most to me as dean, alumnus, and faculty member is not a #1 ranking, but the quality and richness of the educational experience we provide at Harvard Medical School that encourages personal growth and lifelong learning.

I recognize that prospective applicants have legitimate interests in evaluating attributes of our school. I also value transparency and accountability, which is why HMS will continue to publicly share key information on our admissions website. Comparable details for all U.S. medical schools, including HMS, are available in their raw, unweighted form via the Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR) Reports for Applicants and Advisors, part of the Association of American Medical Colleges website. We trust these resources will prove valuable for students as they make thoughtful and meaningful decisions about which medical school is the best fit for them.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

 

For Reference:

America’s Best Medical Schools: A critique of the U.S. News & World Report Rankings

From Rankings to Mission

America’s Best Medical Schools: A Renewed Critique of the U.S. News & World Report Rankings

Deans: Dump that USNWR ‘best medical school’ survey

Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:

It is with a heavy heart that I write to share the news of the death of Christopher T. Walsh, the Hamilton Kuhn Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Emeritus, at HMS. Dr. Walsh, who was beloved by so many throughout the HMS community and around the world, died on Tuesday, at the age of 79, following a fall.

A keen and prophetic scientist, Dr. Walsh was at the forefront of uniting the fields of chemistry, biology, and medicine. As past chair of the Department of Chemistry at MIT, founding chair of the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology (BCMP) at HMS, and former president of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, he had an uncanny knack for fostering collaborative science — especially work conducted at the interface of disciplines. His academic intuition was matched only by his care for and attention to people. Described by many as a once-in-a-lifetime colleague, mentor, and friend, Dr. Walsh drew the best out of his students and his peers.

Dr. Walsh had a penchant for elucidating chemical transformations in living organisms. One of Dr. Walsh’s most influential scientific achievements was the unraveling of the molecular mechanisms by which bacteria develop resistance to antibiotics, specifically vancomycin, a last-ditch option for drug-resistant infections. This work accelerated the development of new families of antibiotics that combat resistant bacterial strains. Dr. Walsh was both a champion of the curiosity-driven research that lay at the heart of his career and an advocate for translational efforts that turn laboratory findings into new medicines.

After graduating from Harvard College in 1965, Dr. Walsh cultivated a passion for enzymatic and natural product biosynthesis at Rockefeller University. Subsequently, he spent 15 years at MIT bridging the institute’s chemistry and biology departments — and was then recruited to HMS in 1987 as the chair of the newly created Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology. As chair of BCMP, he built a team of exceptional structural biologists, chemical biologists, and molecular biologists, and brought HMS widespread recognition for illuminating the molecular mechanisms that underlie biology and disease.

In addition to providing his trainees with the highest quality mentorship and helping to reshape the School’s MD curriculum and PhD training programs, Dr. Walsh was a fierce supporter of women in science. His desire to identify and help students overcome obstacles in a historically male-dominated apprenticeship system is one of the many reasons we will sorely miss him.

Dr. Walsh represented everything that is good and noble about academic medicine and medical education. Our hearts go out to his wife, Diana, and the rest of his family during this time of grief.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:

Today I have the honor of announcing the establishment of the Paul Farmer Collaborative of Harvard Medical School and the University of Global Health Equity (UGHE) in Rwanda. This long-term global health alliance is made possible thanks to a $50 million gift from Cummings Foundation, which will be divided equally between the two institutions to support joint activities.

Building on Paul Farmer’s legacy, the collaborative will catalyze the development of sustainable, equitable health systems that improve health care delivery to underserved populations. The work of the collaborative will involve the exchange of students, postdoctoral trainees, and faculty between HMS and UGHE; support research, education, and teaching; facilitate an annual global health conference focused on health equity, global health delivery, research, education, and social medicine; and provide clinical training opportunities for medical students and residents at both institutions.

Support from the foundation will also establish an endowed Cummings Foundation Professorship of Global Health Equity at HMS, which will be awarded in perpetuity to a scholar whose work focuses on global health delivery with a particular emphasis on research in Africa.

In addition to the $50 million gift to launch the collaborative, Cummings Foundation has contributed $2 million to UGHE to construct a residential facility to house and support faculty visiting UGHE’s campus in Butaro, Rwanda.

With this gift, Cummings Foundation is also honoring the leadership of Larry Bacow in this final year of his tenure as Harvard’s president.

An initiative of Partners In Health, UGHE launched in 2015 with catalytic support from Cummings Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Republic of Rwanda. Its academic programs include a bachelor’s level medical degree and a master of science in global health delivery. UGHE also offers executive education programs with a focus on strengthening health care delivery systems.

It has been nearly a year since Paul’s sudden and unexpected passing, which occurred in Rwanda while he was working and teaching at UGHE. Paul fundamentally believed that universities should be critical agents of social change and active drivers of solutions to society’s most urgent needs. This gift, and the establishment of the collaborative, embody this belief and Paul’s values. It is an honor for HMS to continue to carry on his legacy in this way.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS Faculty:

I am writing to solicit your input as we search for the next dean for medical education at Harvard Medical School. I invite you to apply or to nominate those whom you think would be strong candidates for this key leadership position.

The dean for medical education (DME) is responsible for all aspects of the Program in Medical Education (PME) and serves as a member of the Dean’s Leadership Council. The mission of the PME is to prepare our remarkable students to become the next generation of leaders in all domains of medicine — in the U.S. and around the world — and to prepare students for a commitment to lifelong learning necessary to stay abreast of the ever-expanding scope of scientific and medical knowledge.

The DME inspires faculty, staff, students, alumni, and others, providing the strategic leadership, oversight, planning, and implementation of medical student education at HMS. The DME also serves as an important spokesperson for a variety of constituencies to expand resources for the medical education mission of HMS; oversees the selection of extraordinary medical students, faculty education leaders, and educational support staff; and appoints course and clerkship directors, student advisors, and other key roles to ensure that HMS students are surrounded by role models who will inspire them to reach their highest potential.

This is a time of unique opportunity for the next DME. While continuing to enhance and evolve our signature Pathways curriculum, the next DME will help shape a new curriculum for the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology (HST) program; implement a new clerkship model currently under development; continue exploration of a potential new curricular program for students dedicated to health care leadership and transformation; and ensure support for teaching faculty in collaboration with our hospital affiliates. In the course of this work, the DME must champion diversity, inclusion, and equity that are at the core of HMS’ mission, community values, and diversity statement.

If you are interested in exploring this opportunity, please send a CV and cover letter to Nicole Gakidis (hms@eesrecruit.com) of Exceptional Executive Search prior to Jan. 18, 2023. We also invite your recommendations of others who would be strong candidates.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS Community:

Last week you received a University-wide message announcing updates and modifications to Harvard’s COVID-19 operations and policies, effective Dec. 22. These include retiring the contact tracing team and Crimson Clear, redirecting the Keep Harvard Healthy website to the Harvard University Health Services COVID-19 information page, and maintaining vaccination compliance.

These changes notwithstanding, the health and safety of the HMS community remains a top priority. COVID-19 is still prevalent, as are other respiratory illnesses including influenza and RSV. As such, we advocate a commonsense approach to masking based on the environment and circumstances. We encourage you to carry a mask with you at all times in case you need it, especially in crowded or unventilated indoor settings.

Our Keep HMS Healthy webpage will remain for the foreseeable future, as it will continue to be an important source of current and relevant information and guidance. For example, we will be linking to specific guidance for students who test positive for COVID-19, including details on academic accommodations and isolation and quarantine requirements specifically for those living in Vanderbilt Hall. As changes are made to the University’s policies leading up to the Dec. 22 transition, we will be updating our HMS webpage and links accordingly.

Thank you for your continued commitment to our community and to one another.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Lisa M. Muto
Executive Dean for Administration
Harvard Medical School

Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:

I recently had the privilege of attending the School’s annual Spotlight on Medical Education dinner, which celebrates Harvard Medical School students and the many faculty, staff, and donors who support teaching and learning at HMS.

I was inspired and humbled by our students’ remarkable stories of how they came to join the HMS community. In particular, I was captivated by keynote speaker Jonathan Yong Kim, a first-generation Korean American, NASA astronaut, and U.S. Navy lieutenant commander who received his MD from HMS in 2016. In his talk, Kim recounted how his time at HMS was a powerful salve for the traumas he endured in combat as a U.S. Navy SEAL. In seeking to heal others through his medical training here, he said he was ultimately able to heal himself.

This Thanksgiving, I feel extraordinarily grateful for the spirit, dedication, and legacy of healing that we nurture here at HMS. Kim’s story exemplified this in a profound and moving way. Each of you brings personal meaning to your service and your scholarship, to your courses and your clinical care. And each of your stories nourishes and strengthens our community and mission.

Let us keep in mind, however, as we pause and enter this season of gratitude and giving, that to be successful in whatever we do, we must also commit to our own health and well-being. Rest and relaxation are essential. Over the holiday, I urge you to take time to care for yourselves, especially as we grapple with news of yet another mass shooting and alleged hate crime, this time in Colorado Springs.

We also acknowledge that while the Thanksgiving holiday is a time to gather with friends and family to give thanks for our good fortune, it is also a time to reflect on what we all can do to address the social conditions that create disparities in the health and wellness of so many in our community. Thanksgiving can also be a painful reminder of the continuing repercussions of colonialism and of the displacement, genocide, and oppression of Native and Indigenous peoples, who observe a National Day of Mourning on Thursday. Let us take a moment to honor and recognize the Indigenous people who once held this land and whose culture is an indelible part of our country’s past, present, and future.

Finally, while we give thanks for the medical advances that have helped us weather the pandemic, please remember, as you prepare to gather with loved ones, that COVID-19 still circulates among us. Influenza season is upon us, and cases of RSV are on the rise. I encourage everyone to exercise caution and wear a mask when possible, especially in crowded or unventilated indoor environments. The Keep HMS Healthy webpage has more details on testing and exposure, vaccine and booster requirements, and flexwork.

May the coming holiday break be infused with togetherness and a generosity of spirit. I know I will be giving thanks this holiday for all that you do throughout the year for the HMS community.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Note: Harvard has many resources available to support mental health and wellness, including Counseling and Mental Health Services for students, the Employee Assistance Program and Work/Life Programs for employees, and the Ombuds Office for all staff, trainees, faculty, and students.

Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:

I am writing to share that Dr. Edward M. Hundert has communicated to me his intention to step down from his role as dean for medical education at the end of this academic year, culminating nearly nine years of service and leadership in this role.

You may know that Ed, an HMS alumnus himself, has devoted his time over the years to working with the Office of Alumni Affairs and Development to help engage our alumni and garner the resources to achieve our bold aspirations for HMS. Beginning next summer, he will formally join AAD as senior philanthropic advisor, while also continuing to serve as associate director of the Center for Bioethics, leader and teacher of the MD bioethics curriculum, and a senior faculty member in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine.

Ed’s impact as dean for medical education has been significant. Together with the talented and diverse team he assembled, Ed finalized the planning, implementation, and continuous improvement of the Pathways curriculum, created the unique Advanced Integrated Science Courses, and helped shepherd HMS’ successful LCME reaccreditation. He led the charge to reduce student debt, created and helped raise millions of dollars for the REACH Scholarship program, expanded the Office of Recruitment and Multicultural Affairs, oversaw an extensive anti-racism initiative for the MD program, and championed student mental health and wellness initiatives.

Under Ed’s leadership, new offices were established dedicated to disabilities services, educational quality improvement, and, in partnership with the Center for Primary Care, community centered medical education. Having admirably led our MD program through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, he has been jump-starting efforts to restructure the curriculum for the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Program and remodel the core clerkship year.

Perhaps Ed’s greatest impact has been on the students, faculty, and staff who have benefited from his inspiration and direction, which he has provided with his signature combination of wisdom, humor, and generosity of spirit. Our MD program and medical school have been and will continue to be profoundly shaped by Ed’s passion and service. I look forward to the opportunities we will have later this academic year to celebrate his tenure as dean for medical education. In the meantime, Ed asked me to share the message below.

As we launch a national search for our next dean for medical education, I want to thank Dr. Jules Dienstag, the Carl W. Walter Professor of Medicine, for accepting my invitation to chair the search committee. We have retained Exceptional Executive Search and will be working directly with the firm’s president, Nicole Gakidis, in connection with this search. We welcome your thoughts and nominations, which can be sent in confidence to hms@eesrecruit.com.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University
 

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Message from Dr. Edward M. Hundert:

Dear Faculty, Students, Staff, Trainees, Alumni, and Friends,

These past nine years as dean for medical education have been the most exciting and rewarding of my professional career. Most important are the relationships that have so enhanced my life — particularly with the students, faculty, staff, and alumni who inspire me every day. I am so glad that I will still be working hard on HMS’ and your behalf for years to come.

I find myself in the almost unbelievable situation of having connections with over a third of HMS alumni, between my time as an HMS student and my roles in student affairs, as an ethics teacher, and most recently, as dean for medical education. This presents a unique opportunity to further engage my fellow alumni and others in the noble mission of the School. So much of my professional life has been shaped by my late mentor, Dr. Dan Federman, and it has long been my aspiration to follow his example of transitioning from dean for medical education (of which Dan was the first incumbent) to working in Alumni Affairs and Development to help garner the resources to support HMS’ future.

I remember well my discussions a decade ago with Dean Jeff Flier that led to my appointment as dean for medical education. The Pathways curriculum initiative was in the final stages of development, and it seemed like the appropriate time to have a new leader complete the planning process and attend to the critical early years of continuous improvement required of any new curriculum. Now, a decade later, we are at a similar stage as we move closer to launching a new HST curriculum and a new clerkship model — efforts that will require continuity of leadership over the several years that will follow.

Just as my predecessor, Dr. Jules Dienstag, set in motion so many of the initiatives I have had the joy to oversee, I am dedicated to ensuring the same for my successor, so there is much work to do in the coming year! What I know for sure is that we are blessed with the most extraordinary students, faculty, and staff to ensure that all this great progress will continue unabated, and I am excited to lead the Program in Medical Education through this academic year and to support these exciting efforts for many years to come.

There are far too many people to thank in this message, and I look forward to expressing my gratitude both publicly and privately. I must, however, thank Dr. Jeff Flier, who entrusted me with this role — which is the best job in the world — and especially Dr. George Daley, to whom we all owe a tremendous debt of gratitude for his unwavering support for medical student education. I cannot tell you how fortunate HMS is to have George’s inspirational, intellectual, and moral leadership.

I am excited to continue supporting his vision through my ongoing involvement in our ethics curriculum and in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine, and I am especially energized to work as hard as I can in AAD to secure the resources that will help George and the entire leadership team strive to achieve HMS’ aspirational mission to alleviate suffering and promote health and well-being for all.

With deep gratitude,

Edward M. Hundert

Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:

I am delighted to share that Timothy Springer has been named a co-recipient of the 2022 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award. Tim is being recognized for his work elucidating the role of a class of proteins known as integrins, which physically and biochemically connect cells with one another and with their surrounding environment.

The Latham Family Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at HMS and Boston Children’s Hospital, Tim shares the award with Richard Hynes of MIT and Erkki Ruoslahti of Sanford Burnham Prebys in California. Together, their work launched the field of integrin research, which has yielded impressive new treatments for a range of autoimmune disorders.

Tim’s work on integrins is just one chapter in the story of his prolific career. His findings have influenced disciplines as far-ranging as immunology, hematology, and infectious diseases, and both his fundamental discoveries and his business ventures have led to the development of FDA-approved autoimmune and cancer drugs. His curiosity-based investigations into the structures of proteins could also pave the way for designing new malaria vaccines — an elegant demonstration of the power of translational science to transform fundamental discoveries into advances that impact disease and benefit humanity.

In addition, Tim co-founded the Institute for Protein Innovation, a nonprofit that provides academia and industry with synthetic antibodies and deep expertise in proteins. Its goal is twofold: accelerate antibody science toward the discovery of new drugs and mentor young scientist-entrepreneurs.

After completing his PhD in molecular biology and biochemistry at Harvard in 1976, and a one-year fellowship in the lab of Nobel laureate César Milstein in Cambridge, England, Tim joined the HMS faculty in 1977. He has been a cherished member of the HMS community for nearly 50 years, and I am incredibly honored to have this opportunity to publicly acknowledge his brilliance, tenacity, and commitment to the alleviation of human suffering.

Please join me in congratulating Tim, Richard, and Erkki for receiving one of the highest honors in biomedical science. Their moment in the spotlight is well-deserved.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS Community:

I am pleased to announce the recipients of the 2022 cycle of the Blavatnik Therapeutics Challenge Awards, the Quadrangle Fund for Advancing and Seeding Translational Research (Q-FASTR), the Lyme Research Initiative, and the Foundry Award Program. In addition, I am excited to announce new support for spatial transcriptomics through a collaboration of the preclinical chairs and the Office of the Dean.

Each of these internal awards is designed to provide HMS faculty with funding to pursue innovative research that may often be challenging to support via other funding channels. It is my great pleasure that HMS is able to support these impactful research projects, both through our own internal funds and through the support of generous donors, including the Blavatnik Family Foundation, Phill and Elizabeth Gross, the Fairbairn Family, and the Taplin Funds for Discovery.

Please join me in congratulating these principal investigators across the HMS Quadrangle and HMS-affiliated institutions.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University
 

2022 Blavatnik Therapeutics Challenge Awards

β-Carboline GABAA partial-PAMs for essential tremor and related disorders
Kevin Hodgetts (Harvard Medical School/Brigham and Women’s Hospital)

Targeting R-loop and mRNA dependent repair pathway in cancer therapy
Li Lan (Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital) and Lee Zou (Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital)

Targeted treatment of pemphigus vulgaris
Mohammad Rashidian (Harvard Medical School/Dana Farber Cancer Institute), Ramon Almela (Tufts University), and Erin Wei (Nebraska Medical Center)
 

2022 Q-FASTR Awards

Antibody-based therapeutics against Nipah virus
Jonathan Abraham (Harvard Medical School)

Evaluating antisense oligos for therapeutic impact in liver fibrosis and hepatocellular carcinoma
Karen Adelman (Harvard Medical School) and Alan Mullen (UMass Chan School of Medicine)

Brain-penetrant kinase inhibitors targeting Alzheimer's and related dementias
Mark Albers (HMS Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology and Massachusetts General Hospital)

Agents modulating B cell activation through the CD81-CD19 co-receptor complex
Stephen Blacklow (Harvard Medical School) and Andrew Kruse (Harvard Medical School)

Developing novel agonists of cytokine receptors by targeting receptor pre-clusters
James Chou (Harvard Medical School)

Methods and applications of semi-permeable capsules with current application to high-throughput single cell multi-omics
Allon Klein (Harvard Medical School)

A kinase inhibitor for malignant brain tumors
Timothy Mitchison (Harvard Medical School)

Identification of druggable targets against Vibrio pathogens
Norbert Perrimon (Harvard Medical School) and John Mekalanos (Harvard Medical School)

Manipulating mitobiogenesis by targeting ME2
David Scadden (Harvard Medical School)
 

2022 Dean’s Lyme Research Award

Establishing B. burgdorferi reverse genetics in the mouse neuroborreliosis model
Jacob Lemieux (Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital) and John Leong (Tufts University)
 

2022 Fairbairn Family Lyme Research Initiative Awards

Human tick resistance at the tick-host interface
Phyllis Kanki (Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health) and Sam Telford (Tufts University)

Identification of T cell antigens presented during infection of mice with Borrelia burgdorferi
Michael Starnbach (Harvard Medical School) and Linden Hu (Tufts University)
 

2022 Foundry Awards

Refeyn TwoMP mass photometry instrument for the Center for Macromolecular Interactions
Kelly Arnett (Harvard Medical School)

Functional ultrasound imaging for whole brain activity mapping
Sandeep Robert Datta (Harvard Medical School)

Mouse Behavior Core equipment expansion to offer enhanced phenotyping with capacity for simultaneous in vivo brain circuit measurements and manipulations
Susan Dymecki (Harvard Medical School) and Barbara Caldarone (Harvard Medical School)

Purchase of a Bruker SampleJet NMR Sample Changer for the NEO 600HMz NMR System in the Bio-NMR Facility
Gregory Heffron (Harvard Medical School)

Gnotobiotic Core Facility
Jun Huh (Harvard Medical School) and Dennis Kasper (Harvard Medical School)

Providing ongoing support for the Research Instrumentation Core Facility at Harvard Medical School
Ofer Mazor (Harvard Medical School)

Flow Cytometry Core capacity expansion
Jeffery Nelson (Harvard Medical School) and Christophe Benoist (Harvard Medical School)

Confocal microscopy solution for the Neurobiology Imaging Facility
Michelle Ocana (Harvard Medical School)

Liquid handling automation for arrayed screening in arthropod cells at the Drosophila RNAi Screening Center
Norbert Perrimon (Harvard Medical School) and Stephanie Mohr (Harvard Medical School)

Next Generation Sequencing Core Facility laboratory information management system evaluation project
Robert Steen (Harvard Medical School)

Cellenics: A single-cell data analysis platform to support the Harvard Medical School community
Dana Vuzman (Harvard Medical School)

Next generation peripherals for Nikon Imaging Center spinning disk confocals
Jennifer Waters (Harvard Medical School)

2022 Taplin Fund/Foundry Award

Spatial transcriptomics technology implementation in the HMS Single Cell Core facility
Allon Klein (Harvard Medical School) and Jeffrey Moffit (Harvard Medical School/Boston Children’s Hospital)

Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:

Today Harvard President Lawrence Bacow shared the final report of the Steering Committee on Human Remains in University Museum Collections. It represents the committee’s work to:

• undertake archival research on the remains of the now 19 individuals who were enslaved or were likely to have been enslaved, as identified in the review by the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, and consider options for the return of these remains, as well as their burial or reburial, commemoration, and memorialization;
• create a comprehensive survey of human remains present across all University museum collections, as well as their use in current teaching and research;
• develop a University-wide policy on the collection, display, and ethical stewardship of human remains in the University’s museum collections; and
• propose principles and practices that address research, community consultation, memorialization, possible repatriation, burial or reburial, and other care considerations.

I encourage you to read the report, which includes recommendations in six areas that reflect the charge to the committee: human remains of individuals who were enslaved or were likely to have been enslaved, return of other human remains in Harvard collections, ethical care, research and teaching, community consultation, and memorialization. In addition, this Gazette story features a Q&A with steering committee chair Evelynn Hammonds and members Allan Brandt and Philip Deloria.

Importantly, as Dr. Hammonds writes in the report’s afterword, “… this must be the end of the beginning of the necessary work that Harvard University must do to face the history of its collection, display, research, and stewardship practices in its museums, especially with respect to human remains.”

The overwhelming majority of human remains at Harvard are stewarded by the Peabody Museum and HMS’ Warren Anatomical Museum. Part of the Center for the History of Medicine at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, the Warren Museum was long central to medical education at HMS and is one of the last surviving anatomy and pathology museum collections in the U.S. As the University considers its relationships to slavery and colonialism, HMS must continue to reflect on the nature of the Warren Museum’s collection and the contexts in which — and manner by which — human remains became part of it.

Since 2016, the Warren Museum and Center for the History of Medicine have been investigating the relationship of its collections to slavery and scientific racism. Although there are no known extant human remains of enslaved individuals in the Warren Museum collections, much work is still to be done to examine these relationships and the collection. For more information on the Warren Museum and this work, read this Q&A with Museum Curator Dominic Hall, who is also a member of the steering committee.

HMS and the Warren Museum deeply value our continued partnership with the Peabody Museum on repatriation under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and the acceleration of this process. We are also grateful for the recommendation to establish a University-wide returns committee that will consider, on a case-by-case basis, the return of human remains not covered by NAGPRA.

I share my deep respect for and gratitude to Dr. Hammonds and all members of the steering committee — including HMS representatives Allan Brandt, Dominic Hall, Willy Lensch, Scott Podolsky, and Bob Truog — for their thoughtful and important work. In closing, I want to share this line from Philip Deloria’s essay in the report, which I found particularly moving:

“We question, debate, condemn, and sometimes absolve our predecessors, realizing that while we may not be responsible for their history, we are very much responsible to it. History is not inert; it demands action.”

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard Medical School

Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:

The buzz of a new academic year surely signals the emergence from the languid days of summer. The temperatures might still be high, but our hopes for the coming year — and for the future of medicine — are higher.

I had the pleasure of welcoming our incoming first-year students on Monday, prior to their Society gatherings and the annual HMS patient clinic. Today, we will recognize our new medical and dental students as they celebrate their much-anticipated White Coat Day. The ceremony will run from 1:30 – 4 p.m. ET under the tent on the HMS Quadrangle, and you are invited to join via livestream.

The events of this week are exciting for our incoming students and also humbling for the many clinician-educators across the HMS and HSDM ecosystem. Our entering medical and dental students have chosen to entrust us with nurturing them toward their fullest potential. I know I speak for each of our nearly 12,000 faculty members when I say that we will strive — with all earnestness and great care — to make sure these students have the tools they need to improve human health, alleviate suffering, and change the world for the better.

As we embark on this new academic year, I want to remind the HMS Quad community of our Flexwork Initiative, which was formally launched in fall 2020. Rather than a top-down approach, we empowered unit leaders to determine a flexwork model that is most appropriate for achieving their unique objectives, with the understanding that operational excellence is still expected and community engagement is an important component of that excellence. I encourage you to refer to the Flexwork Initiative webpage for more information and resources and to speak with your manager or unit leader if you have questions about your local unit plans.

I look forward to seeing many of you this afternoon, and I hope you will plan to join me on Sept. 28 for the State of the School Address, to be followed by what I hope will be an exciting community gathering: the HMS Party on the Quad. The party promises to be a great way to reconnect with colleagues and friends, and to remind ourselves of the joy of being part of this wonderful community.

Here’s to an invigorating academic year ahead.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:

It is with great pleasure that I announce the appointment of Dr. David D. Ginty, the Edward R. and Anne G. Lefler Professor of Neurobiology, as the next chair of the HMS Department of Neurobiology, effective Aug. 1.

He will succeed Dr. Michael Greenberg, the Nathan Marsh Pusey Professor of Neurobiology, who announced last November that he would be stepping down after 14 years as chair. I want to thank Mike for his vision and leadership of the department, and for being a thoughtful and trusted advisor to countless colleagues, especially me. Mike’s brilliance as a scientist, a leader, and a mentor is woven into the fabric of HMS. I am pleased that he will continue as a valued member of the HMS faculty and the neurobiology department, where his lab studies the underlying basis of human brain developmental disorders linked to abnormalities in neural pathways and circuits.

David will become the seventh chair to lead the storied HMS Department of Neurobiology, which was founded in 1966 and was the first to introduce this new field of scientific discovery to the world. Today, the department includes 30 research laboratories that study neuroscience at the molecular, cellular, circuit, and systems levels, fueled by curiosity and a commitment to address diseases of the nervous system.

A Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, David brings a wealth of experience and achievement to the position. He is a distinguished member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is the recipient of numerous research awards, including Columbia’s Alden Spencer Award, the Axelrod Prize from the Society for Neuroscience, and the Scolnick Prize in Neuroscience from MIT.

The focus of the Ginty Lab is to gain a greater understanding of the development, organization, and function of the peripheral nervous system and the spinal cord and brain circuits that underlie the sense of touch in health and disease. David received his PhD in physiology from East Carolina University in 1989 and did postdoctoral research on neuronal signaling mechanisms, first with John Wagner and then with Mike Greenberg at HMS. In 1995, he became a faculty member in the Department of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University, returning to HMS in 2013 to join the Department of Neurobiology. Since then, David has served as associate director of the Harvard Program in Neuroscience and as a primary mentor to numerous graduate students and postdoctoral fellows at HMS who have gone on to independent faculty positions in academia or to industry.

Please join me in congratulating David on his new role. The department stands for excellence and inclusion in neuroscience research, training, and education, and I am confident that David will further strengthen and evolve what is arguably the nation’s, if not the world’s, preeminent Department of Neurobiology.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, thereby eliminating the constitutionally guaranteed and federally mandated right to abortion, effectively returning the regulation of this critical element of women’s autonomy and individual rights to each state.

Across the country and in our backyards, this decision is being condemned by some and applauded by others. No matter where you stand on this highly contentious issue, I ask that you remember our HMS mission, community values, and diversity statement. Together they signify our deep commitment to health and well-being for all, as well as integrity, dignity, and respect for individuals and for one another.

As a community of scholars and healers, regardless of our personal beliefs and opinions, we must be concerned about the adverse health implications of this decision, particularly for the most vulnerable among us. In a public statement, the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine said this decision could worsen reproductive health in the U.S. and exacerbate health inequities, citing the literature outlining these well-established facts:

“The U.S. already has one of the highest maternal mortality rates of any developed country, especially for women of color, and state laws and regulations limiting or impacting abortion create more barriers to obtaining safe and effective reproductive care. In addition, women with unintended pregnancies are less likely to receive needed prenatal care, can be at higher risk for medical complications, and are more likely to experience poor neonatal outcomes. In states that ban or severely limit access to abortion, geographic inequities are likely to worsen and widen the gap between women who can access safe abortion and those who cannot.”

The importance of high-quality, safe, and equitable access to full reproductive health services for anyone who may need them cannot be overstated. I stand with the leaders of our affiliated hospitals who on Friday reaffirmed this commitment to access in light of the court’s decision.

Our hospitals expect to welcome growing numbers of patients who will no longer have access to this care in their home communities. I acknowledge the compassion of clinicians who are caring for and consulting with patients on these extremely personal and difficult decisions, while providing the utmost confidentiality and respect for each individual. I have deep concerns about the chilling effect the Supreme Court ruling will have on health care providers who will be forced to weigh their responsibility for protecting a woman’s health against their personal liability in states that may outlaw particular types of care or may question their medical judgment.

Here in Massachusetts, the ROE Act of 2020 has codified equitable access to abortion services. Additionally, Governor Charlie Baker signed an executive order on Friday further protecting access to reproductive health care services and specifically protecting reproductive health care providers who serve out-of-state residents.

If you are struggling with the implications of this ruling and wish to speak to someone, please take advantage of the University resources available to you, including Counseling and Mental Health Services for students, Harvard’s Employee Assistance Program and Work/Life Programs for faculty and employees, and the Harvard Ombuds Office, Longwood for all staff, trainees, faculty, and students.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:

I remember it like it was yesterday, walking in solidarity with our students and members of the HMS, HSDM, and Harvard Chan School communities from the Quad to the Boston Common as part of the national March For Our Lives rally against gun violence. The poignant, youth-led movement was created out of tragedy in response to the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which left 17 people dead and another 17 wounded.

That was Feb. 14, 2018, more than four years ago. Since then, according to evidence-based research compiled by the Gun Violence Archive, there have been an astounding 2,260 mass shootings in the U.S., resulting in 2,274 individuals murdered and another 9,324 injured. And the broader number of deaths and injuries attributed to all forms of gun violence, including homicide, murder, accidents, defense, and suicide, is equally alarming. These sobering statistics include the recent massacres at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York; an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas; and, two days ago, a medical building in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

We have learned that Dr. Preston Phillips—a skilled orthopedic surgeon and advocate for diversity in medicine who graduated from HMS in 1990 and subsequently completed fellowships at the HMS-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Boston Children’s Hospital—was among the four people killed in Tulsa. I share my deepest sympathy with all who knew and loved Dr. Phillips. My heart goes out to them and to the families of all the adults and children who have died as a result of gun violence.

Tragically, this incident is the latest in a seemingly unending series of devastating shootings that serve as painful and recurring reminders that gun violence is a medical and public health crisis in this country, one that needs to be urgently addressed through the meaningful regulation of guns.

The most fundamental responsibility of our representative government is to ensure our safety; we need urgent legislation and action to counter this scourge. Our society accepts any number of constraints to ensure public safety including taxing cigarettes, requiring seat belts and air bags in cars, mandating sprinklers and fire escapes in buildings, and regulating medical devices and pharmaceuticals. It is unconscionable that lawmakers continue to fail to rein in the hyperproliferation of weapons of war in our neighborhoods.

I am both heartbroken and outraged, and I know that many, if not most of you, feel the same. This issue is weighing heavily on the hearts and minds of people in our community and throughout the country. Many Americans are having difficulty concentrating at home and at work. They are grappling with the anxiety of sending their children to school. They are also struggling to comprehend the abject failure of our elected representatives to address this crisis.

If you need support during this deeply unsettling time, please access the University resources available to you, including Counseling and Mental Health Services for students, Harvard’s Employee Assistance Program and Work/Life Programs for employees, and the Harvard Ombuds Office, Longwood for all staff, trainees, faculty, and students.

For those who are interested and motivated to take action, this recent article from BuzzFeed and the websites for the Prevention Institute and Everytown for Gun Safety have some tangible options to consider. In addition, today the American Hospital Association is holding its sixth annual Hospitals Against Violence national day of awareness, and on June 11 the 2022 national March For Our Lives will be held in Washington, D.C., and in cities across the country, including Boston.

Please take care of yourselves and each other.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:

“To live as a doctor is to live so that one's life is bound up in others' and in science and in the messy, complicated connection between the two. It is to live a life of responsibility.”

-Atul Gawande, Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance

We are about to embark on a graduation week that will be jubilant in many ways. After two years of virtual Class Day ceremonies, Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine will reunite in person to recognize our students’ impressive accomplishments. I invite you to view the HMS Graduation 2022 webpage, which includes information for the separate medical, dental, master’s, and doctoral ceremonies.

In gathering to applaud the Class of 2022 this week — as well as the Classes of 2020 and 2021 — we gladly break free of the pixelated, two-dimensional landscape that has constituted so many of our celebratory events during the COVID-19 pandemic. And in the process, we have a chance to live up to the notion, articulated so well by HMS alumnus and faculty member Atul Gawande, that being a doctor is inextricably linked to our humanity … our full-fledged, three-dimensional selves. This sentiment applies not just to doctors, but to all researchers, dentists, health care delivery specialists, and anyone who has answered the call to alleviate suffering and improve health and well-being for all.

I’ve rarely felt more hopeful at the outset of a week than I feel right now. Our festivities honor major achievements on the part of our students and recent graduates — achievements that have been hard-won in the midst of trying circumstances. We have been through much, but these difficulties have also taught us valuable lessons.

The celebrations also serve as a prelude to our new researchers’ and clinicians’ future contributions to transformative science, health care, and dental medicine around the globe. It is always a great privilege to witness our graduates as they receive their degrees and embrace their newfound responsibilities with grace, precision, compassion, and a fierce commitment to equity and justice.

Recent events in the news have been disturbing and painful, and continue to remind us that our world faces many challenges. But our graduates’ dedication to discovery, service, and the overall advancement of human well-being gives me great confidence that the future of the world is in good hands.

We acknowledge that the upcoming graduation and reunion activities are taking place while there are rising COVID case numbers in Boston and Cambridge. The pandemic is not yet behind us, but we are in a much different phase than we were in the past two commencement seasons, with high levels of vaccination in our community and the availability of effective antiviral medications.

As noted in the University-wide email sent earlier today, those attending commencement-related events are strongly encouraged to test each day they attend a scheduled event, even if they are not experiencing symptoms. If you test positive or have symptoms, no matter how mild, you should not attend commencement events. Mask-wearing both indoors and outdoors is also strongly encouraged. We ask all participants to take personal responsibility for their own and each other’s health.

Congratulations to all of you! I look forward to seeing everyone on the Quad in just a few days. Until then, be well, rest up, and revel in this wonderful time of year.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS Community:

Today I am reminded of this excerpt from Maya Angelou’s poem, “On the Pulse of Morning:”

    History, despite its wrenching pain,
    Cannot be unlived, and if faced
    With courage, need not be lived again.

As I reflect on the release of the final report and recommendations from the Presidential Initiative on Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery, I have a mix of emotions. I commend Radcliffe Institute Dean Tomiko Brown-Nagin and the initiative’s committee for their essential work in providing, for the first time, a comprehensive and transparent history of Harvard’s connections to slavery. I applaud both the committee’s recommendations for how we as a community can redress—through teaching, research, and service—our legacy of slavery, and President Bacow and the Corporation’s commitment to support implementation of these recommendations, including providing the financial resources to continue this important work in perpetuity.

I hereby pledge HMS’ commitment to actions that reinforce and advance the initial recommendations and those that will come from the implementation committee. HMS has not and will not shy away from our history, as evidenced in recent years by the dialogues presented by our Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership (DICP), the 2019 event celebrating 50 years of diversity and inclusion at HMS and HSDM, and the Perspectives of Change online exhibit, which presents the story of civil rights, diversity, inclusion, and access to education at HMS and HSDM, among other initiatives.

Since the release of our Better Together plan and anti-racism initiatives, we have made important progress, including establishing a committee on artwork and cultural representations, resulting in new artwork across our campus; instituting guiding principles on naming HMS campus features; renaming one of our academic societies in honor of Dr. William Augustus Hinton; releasing a statement of mutual respect and public discourse; and, following a comprehensive review, implementing recommendations to dismantle racism in our Program in Medical Education, to name a few.

While I am proud of our progress, there is much more we can and must do. This work is the responsibility of each and every one of us. I hope you will read the report and join us as a pollinator for racial justice and social change.

I also understand that the truths laid bare in the report are painful and may reopen wounds that are still fresh for many in our community. Let’s recommit ourselves to our mission, community values, and diversity statement. As community organizer, jazz singer, and co-founder of the Black Voters Matter Fund LaTosha Brown said at Harvard’s recent Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Forum, we must grant one another “grace and space” to create new opportunities and inspire the strength to move forward.

Please consider participating in and engaging with our community at these upcoming University and HMS dialogues and events, as well as others that are being planned for the fall:

• Wednesday, April 27, 6:30 to 8 p.m. Longwood community dialogue for students at HMS, HSDM, and the Chan School. This session will be introduced by Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Sherri Charleston. It will begin with a screening of the Harvard and the Legacy of Slavery film at 6:30 p.m., followed by a dialogue from 7 to 8 p.m., moderated by David Jones, the A. Bernard Ackerman Professor of the Culture of Medicine at HMS. This event is hosted by the three Longwood schools, and specifically DICP, the Program in Medical Education, and the Office of Graduate Education at HMS.
   
• Thursday, April 28, noon to 1 p.m. Community & Affinity Space on the theme of “Reflecting on Harvard’s History and Legacy,” via Zoom. This event is open to all members of the University community and is hosted by the Harvard Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging.
   
• Friday, April 29, 9:15 a.m. to 6 p.m. Virtual conference “Telling the Truth about All This: Reckoning with Slavery and Its Legacies at Harvard and Beyond.” This event is open to the public and hosted by Harvard Radcliffe Institute.
   
• Monday, May 9, 1 to 2:30 p.m. HMS community dialogue moderated by Allan Brandt, the Amalie Moses Kass Professor of the History of Medicine in the Department of Social Medicine, and interim chair of the HMS Department of Global Health and Social Medicine. This event is open to all members of the HMS community. Further details will be available soon.

In the days ahead, may we all find and exercise the courage that Maya Angelou spoke of so that we can reckon with our past and, together, prescribe a more equitable future.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS Community:

This time of year always brings with it an atmosphere of excitement, especially as we welcome spring and anticipate Class Day and related graduation activities. The energy is palpable, and I can’t help but think that Paul Farmer—whose life we celebrated at a candlelight vigil on March 4—would be delighted to see us pushing ahead in our work with joy, momentum, and resolve. If you are interested in listening to audio from the vigil, it is now available on our website.

Our community will be healing the harsh wound of Paul’s tragic passing for quite a while. It is far from a platitude to say that the people who leave us do live on inside of us. Paul was larger than life, and it is important that we preserve his spirit, work, and impact. All of us—whether we’re bench researchers, staff members, students, physicians-in-training, or fieldworkers in global health—seek to emulate Paul’s promise to the world and his commitment to serving the needs of the most vulnerable. His commitment to a higher purpose and his embodiment of the HMS mission encompassed every fiber of his being, and we each have a role to play in stewarding what he gifted us.

It gives me great pleasure, on that note, to share that I have named Allan Brandt, the HMS Amalie Moses Kass Professor of the History of Medicine in the Department of Social Medicine, as interim chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine. As many of you know, Allan first joined the department in 1982, and has long since been an active contributor to its teaching and research, as well as in the articulation of its goals, principles, and values. I am grateful for his willingness to guide the department through this time of transition.

In addition, Louise Ivers, HMS professor of medicine, has been appointed by Provost Alan Garber as faculty director of the Harvard Global Health Institute. In this role, Louise will lead the HGHI in the development and execution of its intellectual vision and academic plan.

Both Allan and Louise have extensive knowledge of and experience in public health policy, social determinants of disease, and global health equity. They are exemplary leaders who will carry on Paul’s legacy and usher us into an era in which no disparity in health care is acceptable.

I’d also like to highlight a few noteworthy milestone events, both recent and upcoming:

 

• First, congratulations to the MD Class of 2022 on your Match Day, which took place Friday, March 18, and marked the first in-person celebratory event for our students in two years. Your residency is an excellent opportunity to begin witnessing the fruits of your labor, so I hope you are all thrilled at the prospect of embarking on your respective journeys.

 

• Second, kudos to the recipients of this year’s Diversity Awards, who were recognized last week via Zoom webinar following the Howard, Dorsey, Still Lecture, named for Edwin C.J.T. Howard, MD, Class of 1869; Thomas Graham Dorsey, MD, Class of 1869; and James Thomas Still, MD, Class of 1871—the first three African Americans to graduate from HMS. Keynote speaker and HMS alumnus André Churchwell, vice chancellor for equity, diversity, and inclusion and chief diversity officer at Vanderbilt University, gave compelling remarks about the various models of creativity and how self-exploration is crucial to fueling scientific and medical innovation. His message reminds us that we should honor our multiplicities—and that our hobbies and interests have the potential to inform our work in beautiful and unexpected ways.

 

• Finally, we encourage you to save the dates April 12-14 to tune in via Zoom to Harvard’s first Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Forum, which will bring the University community together to learn and engage with critical EDIB topics. This year’s theme, Reimagine Our Community, is driven by the need to collaboratively explore how we might work together to build a campus environment where everyone can thrive. Joan Reede, HMS dean for diversity and community partnership, will be among the speakers.

 

As we finish out an academic year that has had its fair share of triumphs and difficulties, we can all be grateful for the dedication of so many in the HMS community. Each of you contributes in tangible ways to the emergence of a new future for medicine and health care, and I am deeply appreciative of and awed by your resilience and persistence.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS Community:

At Harvard Medical School, we work to alleviate suffering and improve health and well-being for all. In keeping with that mission, HMS stands alongside the international community in condemning Russia’s invasion of its neighbor Ukraine. We express our solidarity with the people of Ukraine, who are currently enduring unspeakable hardships. I would also like to draw your attention to President Bacow’s statement, which he delivered earlier today.

The cost of conflict—as explored in the Spring 2018 issue of Harvard Medicine magazine—is incalculable. Beyond the economic, military, social, and political ramifications of war, it is well documented that public health deteriorates, too. Maternal and infant mortality rates increase. Destruction brings about widespread instability. Environmental damage, toxification, and pollution are rampant, and displaced individuals face debilitating traumas.

In 2018, a cohort of HMS researchers studying Saudi attacks on health care facilities and services in Yemen called on health care providers to take a role in censuring the war. They set an example for all of us. As physicians, educators, and trainees, we are uniquely positioned to advocate for peace. Already, the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, a University-wide academic and research center based at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and affiliated with Brigham and Women’s Hospital Emergency Medicine Department, is working with clinical partners to aid the health response strategy at the Ukrainian border.

My thoughts turn to those members of our community—the Ukrainians and Russians among us—who are most affected by this occupation, but none of us can be unmoved by the unfolding tragedy of war. If you need support during this deeply unsettling time, many resources are available to you, including Counseling and Mental Health Services for students, Harvard’s Employee Assistance Program and Work/Life Programs for employees, and the Harvard Ombuds Office, Longwood for all staff, trainees, faculty, and students.

For anyone who would like to learn more about the crisis in Ukraine, I encourage you to attend any or all of these panel discussions over the next week, organized by colleagues across the University, including Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center and Institute of Politics.

An invasion of this type is likely to bring about an immense amount of sorrow and loss of life. If you are looking for ways to help, there are many organizations soliciting financial aid to assist the people of Ukraine and address this growing crisis. Respected and trusted groups include UNICEF, Doctors Without Borders, and the International Committee of the Red Cross, as well as the U.N. Ukraine Humanitarian Fund.

In challenging times like these, please remember to take care of yourself, and to be sensitive to others. That in itself is a potent balm for the soul.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS Community:

I am heartbroken to share the news that Paul Farmer died early this morning in Rwanda, where he was working and teaching at the University of Global Health Equity, which he co-founded. Paul passed quietly in his sleep, pursuing to his last day his mission of bringing exceptional medical care to regions of the globe in greatest need. He was 62.

A compassionate physician and infectious disease specialist, a brilliant and influential medical anthropologist, and among the greatest humanitarians of our time—perhaps all time—Paul dedicated his life to improving human health and advocating for health equity and social justice on a global scale. I am particularly shaken by his passing because he was not only a consummate colleague and a beloved mentor, but a close friend. To me, Paul represented the heart and soul of Harvard Medical School.

Paul was the Kolokotrones University Professor and head of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS, and chief of the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He earned his MD and PhD from Harvard. He was co-founder and chief strategist of Partners In Health, an international nonprofit that since 1987 has provided direct health care services and undertaken research and advocacy activities on behalf of the sick and those living in poverty. Paul co-founded PIH while still a medical student here at HMS, which speaks to his drive and his spirit.

Our hearts go out to his wife, Didi Bertrand Farmer, their three children, and all who knew and loved him.

We are planning a community gathering via Zoom and will share the details as soon as they are confirmed. There are many in our community who will feel the burden of his loss. Please know that grief counselors are available through Harvard’s 24-hour, confidential Employee Assistance Program (EAP) at 877-EAP-HARV (877-327-4278). Students can reach out to Harvard Counseling and Mental Health Services at 617-495-2042.

Paul’s presence brought great honor to Harvard Medical School. His life’s work and teaching have been an inspiration to countless colleagues and trainees who will carry on his legacy. In closing, I would like to share one of Paul’s poignant quotes that is meaningful to me and represents what Paul stood for and fought for:

“The essence of global health equity is the idea that something so precious as health might be viewed as a right.”

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS Community:

On Wednesday evening, I participated in an important and timely panel discussion on anti-racism, equity, and social justice. The event was part of the Black History Month event series sponsored by the HMS Center for Bioethics and the Tuskegee University National Center for Bioethics in Research and Health Care.

The discussion included luminaries Valerie Montgomery Rice, president and CEO of Morehouse School of Medicine and an HMS alumna; Louis W. Sullivan, president emeritus of Morehouse School of Medicine and former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; and Joan Y. Reede, HMS dean for diversity and community partnership, who was our moderator. Together, we had an uplifting conversation about our experiences and values, our mentors and role models, and our work to create change that enables all in our communities to thrive.

We also addressed the racist incidents that have taken place over the past few days and weeks across our country and in our backyards. Bomb threats have again threatened and disrupted historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Books about the Holocaust are being banned. Racist incidents are being reported on college campuses. Self-proclaimed neo-Nazis have engaged in attacks and demonstrations, including singling out HMS faculty members who have worked to uncover and correct critical health disparities. And the list goes on.

We must condemn these heinous acts. Racism in any form is unacceptable. Our HMS mission, community values, and diversity statement, together with our anti-racism initiatives and Better Together plan, signify our resolute commitment to inclusive excellence, collaboration, and mutual respect.

It bears repeating that all members of our community deserve to feel safe at work, at home, and everywhere in between. If you are feeling unsafe or seeking support, please do not hesitate to access the resources outlined below.

In closing, I want to share an excerpt from Dr. Montgomery Rice’s remarks as she reflected on the recent bomb threats targeted at HBCUs:

“Someone asked me today if am I fearful. Fear is just a call to exercise courage. I tell our students and faculty that now is time to stand still and stand tall. Now is our time to demonstrate what it means to be an advocate and a champion of health equity. No one said that path would be easy.”

Please take care of yourselves and take care of each other. We truly are better together.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

 

Resources for the HMS Community

• Harvard’s anonymous hotline is available 24/7 to report a range of concerns, including harassment and other threats to personal safety and well-being. Operated by an independent, third-party provider, the hotline is accessible 24/7 by calling 877-694-2275 or by submitting a report online.
   
• If you are concerned for your safety, call the Harvard University Police Department at 617-495-1212 (Cambridge/Allston) or 617-432-1212 (Longwood). The HUPD takes hate crimes seriously, and any acts or threats of violence, harassment, or intimidation may be reported directly to the department.
   
• The HMS Security and Campus Safety team offers both walking and taxi escort services. Walking escort services are available 24 hours a day by calling 617-432-1379 at least 15 minutes ahead of your departure time. A security officer will escort you anywhere on campus or to the nearest MBTA stop. Taxi escort services are available daily from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. from the NRB security desk at 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur. This service is free to a single destination within a one-mile radius for up to four people. Click here for further details on available services.
   
• Blue light emergency phones are available at 41 locations throughout the Longwood and Cambridge campuses. When you push the button on any of these call boxes, you will be connected directly to HUPD dispatch.
   
• Counseling and Mental Health Services provides care exclusively to students in the form of individual remote visits and group therapy, no matter where you may be living during the pandemic. Check out the many virtual workshops and groups here.
   
• The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provides free, confidential help for all Harvard employees, postdocs, and their adult household members. You can reach the EAP at any time for personal or work-related concerns at 877-EAP-HARV (877-327-4278) or by visiting the EAP website.
   
• The Ombuds Office helps all members of the HMS, HSDM, and Harvard Chan School community address issues affecting their work or studies, including bias in its many forms. The Ombuds Office is independent by design and provides highly confidential, impartial, and informal support for clarifying concerns, identifying goals, and considering all options for managing or resolving issues. Services include conflict coaching; informal mediation; education about resources and policies; bringing systemic trends and issues to leadership; and training on topics including negotiation and conflict management, authorship best practices, and difficult conversations.
   
• The University Office for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging offers community care resources, including Affinity Spaces, a series of open conversations where Harvard community members can connect with others who share their identities.
   
• The HMS Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership has compiled a list of anti-racism resources.

January 12, 2022

Dear Members of the HMS Community:
 
As we begin the new year, and after a series of dry administrative updates on COVID-19 guidelines, I’d like to share a more personal, and hopeful, message for 2022.
 
There is no doubt that the nearly two years of the pandemic have been challenging. Each of us is justified in feeling exasperated or exhausted after all we’ve been through. And with the constant reminders of case numbers, hospitalizations, and deaths, many of us remain fearful of the ongoing risk to ourselves and our loved ones, and mired in the protracted uncertainty of when this will all end. For those of you suffering under the stress and strain of it all, please remember there are multiple resources available for support during these trying times, including Counseling and Mental Health Services for students, Harvard’s Employee Assistance Program and Work/Life Programs for employees, and the HMS Ombuds Office for all staff, trainees, faculty, and students.
 
Like many of you, I started to feel a deep weariness over the last semester. However, as I recently reflected on the past year, I felt my spirits lifting. Despite many obvious challenges, 2021 was an extraordinary year for HMS. Our researchers published more than 4,300 papers related to COVID-19 on PubMed, significantly demystifying the disease. Our frontline health care workers contributed enormously to improving the treatment and clinical management of SARS-CoV-2 infection. And HMS at large remained steadfastly committed, through MassCPR and other initiatives, to fostering global scientific and clinical collaboration for the betterment of human health worldwide.
 
Many of our accomplishments are highlighted in the 2021 HMS Dean’s Report. This report is a snapshot of the excellence that HMS represents, made possible by all of you.
 
Although we cannot foresee what 2022 will bring, I am optimistic that we will see a steady, if somewhat plodding, return to a more “normal” way of life. Based on data emerging from studies performed at HMS, we can feel encouraged that we are all acquiring some measure of protection from the multiple jabs or natural infections we have endured. We are also witnessing overall reduced disease severity, particularly with omicron, and lower rates of disease-related deaths.
 
I am not endorsing complacency—far from it. We must remain resolute in confronting the pandemic’s ebbs, flows, and waves as we learn to live with the risk of new viral variants or unpredictably serious disease, and we must continue to protect those in our community who remain at greater risk for complications. What will be most important in the coming months is for each of us to take advantage of moments of calm to rest and regroup. I urge you to find more deliberate ways to tend to your mental and emotional well-being and to make those habits part of your routine.
 
Throughout the pandemic, I have been inspired by the remarkable selflessness and brilliance of so many. You have helped one another, you have served HMS, and you have led in a global effort to combat this crisis. I thank you for remaining steadfast these past two years, and I ask your continued forbearance in the months to come. I am enormously proud of each and every one of you, and I am grateful for your continued perseverance as we look toward the future—and for the camaraderie that has sustained us all.
 
Two things are clear to me: 2022 will be brighter, and HMS will emerge from this pandemic as a stronger community.
 
George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:

I was devastated to hear the news of the fatal shooting of eight people in Georgia, including six women of Asian descent. Although a motive has yet to be determined, this egregious act of violence follows months of escalating xenophobia and some 3,800 racist attacks and threats against the Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander communities across the nation.

Racism in any form is unacceptable. All members of our community should feel safe at work, at home, and everywhere in between. Unfortunately, members of the HMS and broader Harvard community have also been recent victims of malicious racist attacks. We stand with the Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander communities and all who are targets of such despicable, hateful acts.

It bears repeating that our HMS mission and community values, our diversity statement, and our anti-racism initiatives signify our resolute commitment to inclusive excellence, collaboration, and mutual respect.

If you are feeling unsafe or are seeking support, I share with you these HMS and University resources:

• Harvard’s anonymous hotline is available 24/7 to report a range of concerns, including harassment and other threats to personal safety and well-being. Operated by an independent, third-party provider, the hotline is accessible 24/7 by calling 877-694-2275 or by submitting a report online.
• If you are concerned for your safety, call the Harvard University Police Department at 617-495-1212 (Cambridge/Allston) or 617-432-1212 (Longwood). The HUPD takes hate crimes seriously, and any acts or threats of violence, harassment, or intimidation may be reported directly to the department.
• The HMS Security and Campus Safety team offers both walking and taxi escort services. Walking escort services are available 24 hours a day by calling 617-432-1379 at least 15 minutes ahead of your departure time. A security officer will escort you anywhere on campus or to the nearest MBTA stop. Taxi escort services are available daily from 9 p.m. to 3 a.m. from the NRB security desk at 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur. This service is free to a single destination within a one-mile radius for up to four people. Click on the link above for further details.
• Blue light emergency phones are available at 41 locations throughout the Longwood and Cambridge campuses. When you push the button on any of these call boxes, you will be connected directly to HUPD dispatch.
• Counseling and Mental Health Services provides care exclusively to students in the form of individual remote visits and group therapy, no matter where you may be living during the pandemic. Check out the many virtual workshops and groups here.
• The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) provides free, confidential help for all Harvard employees, postdocs, and their adult household members. You can reach the EAP at any time for personal or work-related concerns at 877-EAP-HARV (877-327-4278) or by visiting the EAP website.
• The Ombuds Office helps all members of the HMS, HSDM, and Harvard Chan School community address issues affecting their work or studies, including bias in its many forms. The Ombuds Office is independent by design and provides highly confidential, impartial, and informal support for clarifying concerns, identifying goals, and considering all options for managing or resolving issues. Services include conflict coaching; informal mediation; education about resources and policies; bringing systemic trends and issues to leadership; and training on topics including negotiation and conflict management, authorship best practices, and difficult conversations.
• The University Office for Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging hosts group self-care and wellness Community Spaces for Affinity Groups throughout this semester, co-moderated by local health care and DIB professionals.
• The HMS Office for Diversity Inclusion and Community Partnership has compiled a list of anti-racism resources.

Please take care of yourselves and take care of each other. We are all, truly, better together.

Sincerely,

George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

​Oct. 21, 2020

Dear Members of the HMS Community:

Diversity, inclusion and belonging continue to be among my top priorities. Much has happened across our country in the few short months since we released the final report of our HMS Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion and officially launched our Better Together plan. More names have been added to the long list of senseless and cruel killings of Black people who have died doing the same things that many of us have the privilege of taking for granted, and the feelings of unrest and divisiveness have only amplified.

Let me say again that these threats and loss of life are the outrageous consequences of deeply ingrained racism, which has seen an ugly resurgence in recent years. I am sorry for the wounds these painful incidents have exacerbated for members of our community, many of whom are already dealing regularly with microaggressions—both intentional and unintentional.

At the same time, more Americans are now awake to the discrimination and injustices faced by so many, and they have committed themselves to learning and taking action to support racial and social justice. Many passionate members of our community have come forward to share their experiences, ideas and suggestions to help make our school, our university, our city, our state and our country better places to live, learn and work. I am thankful to those who have come forward as individuals or groups, and I acknowledge that many have not come forward but may still be hurting. Please know that I see you, I hear you and I respect you.

After deep consideration and consultation with Dean for Diversity and Community Partnership Joan Reede and my senior advisers, today I write to announce a series of initiatives to further advance HMS’ diversity, inclusion, belonging and anti-racism agenda. The initiatives outlined below align squarely with our diversity statement and Better Together plan, whose goal you may recall is to establish HMS as the institution of preference for diverse individuals. As a community of healers and leaders, it is critical that HMS’ students, postdocs, faculty, staff, residents and clinical fellows represent the patients and families who are the ultimate beneficiaries of our collective work and service.

Perhaps most importantly, the framework for HMS’ diversity, inclusion, belonging and anti-racism agenda initiatives must remain grounded in our mission—to nurture a diverse, inclusive community dedicated to alleviating suffering and improving health and well-being for all through excellence in teaching and learning, discovery and scholarship, and service and leadership—and our community values. While there is certainly much more work to be done on local, regional and national levels, I believe that effecting change at HMS is the best way to create an enduring ripple effect. We must look inward at our own history, culture, policies and practices with the goal of examining ourselves and acting on those findings.

Click here to watch a video of Joan Reede and me discussing the importance of these initiatives with Ahmed Mohammed, director of talent acquisition at HMS.

Over the last two years—before and since the release of our Better Together plan in June—we have made important progress. Thanks to the fortitude and dedication of members of our community, we have established the HMS Faculty Council Subcommittee on Artwork and Cultural Representations, resulting in a sculpture of Alice Hamilton in the Tosteson Medical Education Center, a portrait of William Augustus Hinton in the Waterhouse Room in Gordon Hall and self-portraits of medical student Pamela Chen in the dean’s office; released a statement of mutual respect and public discourse at HMS; established guiding principles regarding eponymous features at HMS; and renamed the Oliver Wendell Holmes Society in honor of Dr. William Augustus Hinton, among other important initiatives.

There is much more we can and must do. This work is the responsibility of each and every one of us. Please talk with your colleagues, manager and department/unit administrator to learn how you can be a part of your local efforts. Join us and be a pollinator for racial justice and social change.

Sincerely,
George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

​

Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging and Anti-Racism Initiatives

Framed within HMS’ mission statement, the following initiatives form the next wave of our important work toward becoming a more inclusive, diverse and anti-racism institution.

• Teaching and Learning: We will review the functions and programs across Medical and Graduate Education—including admissions, learning environment, curriculum, student affairs, assessment and faculty and staff development—with the goal of identifying areas of concern, closing gaps and developing action plans to monitor and report racist actions that occur across programs and associated learning environments. We will develop new classes for master’s and PhD students to acknowledge the ways in which racism is embedded in science and scientific culture and work to redress these longstanding issues. We will create clearer, more direct outlets for members of our community to report instances of discrimination. And we will increase diversity in our external education course leadership and faculty, marketing and social media content, and in the breadth and depth of issues covered in these programs and materials.
• Discovery and Scholarship: Within our preclinical departments, we will hire, as part of a cluster-hire initiative, up to four outstanding scientists in the life sciences who are committed to advancing HMS’ mission and community values. We will develop guidance, standards and metrics for faculty excellence in the areas of diversity, inclusion and belonging; create a path for faculty to be recognized for their contributions to this area; and signal to faculty the importance that HMS places on these contributions to its mission.
• Service and Leadership: We will create events and dialogues that bring members of our community together to promote diverse perspectives on and understanding of history and context, and that bring our HMS community together with members of our neighboring communities. We will recognize and support the establishment of communities within community, such as the new HMS Black Postdoctoral Association and Black Staff Caucus. And we will launch a public dashboard to track progress toward our goals, be transparent and hold ourselves accountable.

Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community:
 
One of my early acts as dean was to form the HMS Faculty Council Subcommittee on Artwork and Cultural Representations. This broadly constituted group—made up of HMS faculty members, medical and graduate students, and both salaried and hourly staff drawn from departments and offices across the School—has been offering advice and direction on several projects throughout HMS over the past few years.
 
In July, after receiving a petition spearheaded by our medical students urging the HMS administration to change the name of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Society, I asked the committee’s leaders, Nawal Nour and Fidencio Saldaña, and my strategic advisor, Willy Lensch, to convene their members along with additional individuals from the HMS and HSDM communities to form a special task force to address these specific objectives:

1. Develop a set of guiding principles that broadly deliberated why we name features across our campus and under what circumstances we might consider changing an eponymous feature.
    
2. Apply these guiding principles to consider a specific case: Should the name of the Oliver Wendell Holmes Society at HMS be changed, what general principles should guide such a decision, and if it should change, what might the new name be?

 

The task force did its work and returned a deeply considered set of guiding principles, Inspiration and Aspiration: Elements to Consider Regarding Eponymous Features at HMS. On the specific question of the Holmes Society, the group wrote: “The Task Force agreed that Dr. Holmes’ contributions to science, medicine and elements of the culture of his time were incredible. However, his publicly articulated views concerning racial inequality, even understood in the context of their time and perhaps further informing our understanding of his role in the expulsion of HMS’s first three African American students, run especially contrary to the guiding principles articulated in the Inspiration and Aspiration document as well as other sources cited therein. This discordance was particularly evident regarding the specific use of Dr. Holmes’ name for a student society at HMS.”
 
After considering several possible alternatives for a new namesake, the task force unanimously recommended the late William Augustus Hinton, AB 1905, MD 1912. I was delighted to hear this, as it was a little over a year ago that HMS celebrated the installation of a formal portrait of Dr. Hinton in the Waterhouse Room in Gordon Hall. Dr. Hinton was a Harvard College and HMS graduate, an HMS faculty member, a beloved teacher of medical students, an ardent advocate for the advancement of underrepresented people in science and medicine and the first Black full professor at Harvard. After being denied the opportunity to train as a surgeon because of his race, he became an internationally recognized infectious disease researcher who contributed enormously to public health and medical practice worldwide.
 
I am writing today to announce that I have formally accepted the task force’s guiding principles document and recommendations to rename the Holmes Society in honor of Dr. Hinton, effective immediately. Please join me in celebrating the William Augustus Hinton Society. Click here to read more, including perspectives from members of the task force.
 
As I said in my community email following the killing of George Floyd, HMS’ mission statement, community values and diversity statement signify our deep commitment to respect, integrity and accountability. Among these core principles is that we acknowledge the strengths and weaknesses of our history and actively promote social justice, challenge discrimination and address disparities and inequities. With that, I want to thank and congratulate the task force, whose work is an important step on our path toward social justice.
 
Sincerely,
 
George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS and HSDM Community,  
 
A week ago I sent a message calling out the insidious and injurious racism plaguing our society. The release this past Thursday of the report of our Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion was coincidental but meaningful and timely. I am in active discussions with members of my leadership team about implementing an anti-racism agenda at HMS. And tomorrow, Wed., June 10, I ask you to pause in solidarity with a nationwide STEM shutdown.
 
While one day will not reverse the structural racism embedded in our country, it gives us the opportunity to build on our Better Together plan and to identify specific steps we can each take to confront racism. Tomorrow and always, I want to encourage all of us, faculty, administrators, postdocs, students and staff, as well as deans—current and former—to commit to open expression and discourse about the challenges we are all confronting, while remaining sensitive to the power of words to inflict pain and perpetuate injustice. I urge you to embrace this opportunity to reflect, become better informed and plan concrete actions.

We have provided a number of anti-racism resources that may help as each of us takes on this important work. Additionally, I encourage departments, units, individuals and groups to provide one another with the important gift of time and space. Some of you may want to gather together via Zoom for group discussion and reflection. I will ask that we all, however, pause at noon and spend 8 minutes and 46 seconds in quiet reflection. While we will be apart, there will be power and community in our collective silence. 

Thank you in advance for your thoughtful and constructive engagement, and for the hard work of confronting our history and our current challenges, while ensuring that we do better together in the days that lie ahead. 
 
Sincerely,
 
George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS Community:
 
A couple of weeks ago, Dean for Diversity and Community Partnership Joan Reede and I earmarked this week for the release of the final report of the Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion. We could not have anticipated that the timing would be so meaningful. As we embrace in our community values statement, our community is committed to seeking diversity and promoting equity and social justice. This week has highlighted the critical importance of this aspiration. 
 
As I wrote in my message to you this past Sunday, it is imperative that we acknowledge the strengths and weaknesses of our history and actively promote social justice, challenge discrimination and address disparities and inequities. I launched the Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion with four goals in mind: 1) To analyze the landscape of HMS, its affiliates and Harvard University; 2) to develop an HMS diversity and inclusion vision, statement and policy that foster excellence in teaching, research and service; 3) to identify measures of accountability; and 4) to prioritize needs for deeper investigation, goal-setting and action.
 
Chaired by Joan, the Task Force included 36 administrators, faculty, staff, postdocs and students. Their community-wide assessment comprised input gathered through numerous town meetings, focus groups, site visits, website portals and surveys. Emerging from their efforts were four key goals: develop people and infrastructure, build community and belonging, address culture and communication, and hold [us] accountable and generate knowledge.

This final report serves as a springboard for an ambitious, long-term effort, Better Together. The goal of this effort is to implement the Task Force’s recommendations, with the priority of establishing HMS as the institution of preference for diverse candidates. As such, we strive to increase representation of historically marginalized individuals—those underrepresented in medicine (URM), those with disabilities, those who identify as LGBTQ and women—at all academic levels, particularly senior faculty and department administrators and leaders, at both HMS and its affiliated institutions. Better Together also acknowledges a shared responsibility and potential to address issues of health disparities, equity and social justice.

I hope you will enjoy this week’s Voices from the Community video. It features Joan Reede interviewing Karina Gonzalez Herrera, Alden Landry and Nawal Nour about the work of the Task Force, how the pandemic has changed their work and how our patients, students, faculty, staff and trainees are being affected by what is happening in our country.



Please join me in thanking Joan and the entire Task Force for their critically important work. I encourage you to read the report and consider how you can get involved in our diversity and inclusion efforts. I also hope you will join us for the Diversity Awards virtual ceremony on Tuesday, June 9, at 2 p.m.
 
Sincerely,
 
George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University

Dear Members of the HMS Community:
 
Sundays are meant for rest. Instead, there is pervasive unrest across our country. The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis is the latest in what is a long history of senseless and cruel killings of black people, including 26-year-old Breonna Taylor and Ahmaud Arbery, who would have turned 26 on May 8.
 
It’s important to say their names and observe that each of them died doing things that many of us have the privilege of taking for granted, like grocery shopping, relaxing in our homes or taking a run. These activities will now cause many more to live in fear for themselves and their families.
 
The backdrop for this violence rests in something more insidious that has not yet been fully addressed. And it is the result of racism, inequality and discrimination. Members of our black and brown communities and those on the margins, who often are without voice, are disproportionately suffering and dying from illness and disease.
 
COVID-19 has taught the U.S. a hard lesson about the role of social determinants of health in patient outcomes, but this is not new information. We must go beyond recognizing the impact of these economic and social conditions and commit to further understanding the root causes and addressing them.
 
These threats and loss of life must be called what they are: outrageous consequences of deeply ingrained racism, which has seen an ugly resurgence in recent years. This has reopened wounds for some members of our community and served as a reminder for others of the discrimination and injustices faced by many in our society. My heart goes out to those who are suffering and are fearful. Please know that I am committed to ensuring that HMS is a safe haven.
 
HMS is a community of healers and leaders. Our mission and values and our diversity statement signify our deep commitment to respect, integrity and accountability. Among these core principles is that we acknowledge the strengths and weaknesses of our history and actively promote social justice, challenge discrimination and address disparities and inequities.
 
Each of us must stand as a defender of higher ideals and an advocate for a more just and inclusive society. I ask each of you to take a few moments today to reflect on our individual roles and responsibilities, as HMS prepares this week to release the formal report of our Task Force on Diversity and Inclusion, which was chaired by Dr. Joan Reede and will speak to our aspirations as a community. Through both individual and collective action, HMS can be a force for good and an agent of change during these challenging times.
 
In closing, I encourage you to read—or reread—Langston Hughes’ “Freedom’s Plow,” which uplifts us and reminds us to keep moving forward.
 
Sincerely,
 
George Q. Daley
Dean of the Faculty of Medicine
Harvard University