Fujifilm Fellowship Program

I am from Hollandale, Mississippi—a small town located in the heart of the Mississippi Delta. I completed my Bachelor of Science degree in biology at Jackson State University, and I went on to complete my Master of Science at Towson University. It was during my master’s degree that I was introduced to virology research, which inspired me to apply to the virology program at Harvard. 

By leveraging the natural capabilities of beneficial bacteria, my goal is to develop innovative treatment approaches that could transform how we manage various viral infections.

I was absolutely elated to get the news! I immediately dropped a screenshot of the email in my lab’s Slack channel. They were all so immensely proud, and we celebrated with cheesecake (my favorite)!

I was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi. At the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (UHM), I studied Molecular Cell Biology and Studio Art. For my Honors Thesis, I studied luciferase and opsins in bioluminescent zooplanktons. After graduating from UHM, I was a postbaccalaureate fellow at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), where I characterized and developed vaccines against respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). 

My research focuses on evaluating the biophysical features of antibodies that allow antibodies to maintain structural integrity through mutation. This can provide valuable information for biologics stability and design. 

I was deeply honored and excited when I first learned I was named a Fujifilm Fellow. Immediately, I screenshot the notification email and send it to Duane to share my excitement! I am excited about the opportunities the fellowship would bring to further my work and contributions to the community.

I was born in the Dominican Republic and moved to New York City at a young age. I later moved to the Hudson Valley, New York, for my Bachelor of Science in molecular and cellular biology. As an undergraduate student, I participated in multiple research projects primarily focused on studying infections in multinucleated eukaryotes. Post-graduation, I became a technician in an HIV research lab at Weill Cornell Medicine, where I became interested in immunology. I decided to join Harvard Medical School for my PhD in immunology because of the highly collaborative environment and wide range of immunology topics being studied. 

In delivering these FOXP3 pathogenic T cells, I aim to generate functionally suppressive antigen-specific regulatory T cells capable of suppressing the immunogenic response to gluten. My research aims to expand our understanding of T cell resistance to immune suppression and provides a novel therapeutic approach using antigen-specific adoptive cell therapy to combat celiac disease.

Upon learning I was a recipient of the fellowship, I was both ecstatic and honored. I am grateful to have been chosen and know that the support provided by the Fujifilm fellowship contributes immensely to the success of therapeutic innovations here at HMS.

I am originally from Ghana, West Africa. I did my undergraduate studies in biochemistry and cell and molecular biology at the University of Ghana and conducted my thesis work on Plasmodium falciparum. I developed a deep passion for malaria research during my thesis work, and thus, I decided to apply to Harvard University for my PhD to study the disease further. I was drawn to the BPH Program at Harvard because of the significant number of faculty doing malaria research. I saw the environment as a great place to be trained and contribute to the fight against malaria.

Malaria is a significant public health challenge. It is one of the leading causes of death of children under five years in Africa, where I come from. With the emergence of resistance against the current antimalarial drugs, there is a need to identify new antimalarials with novel mechanisms of action and less susceptibility to resistance. So, for my PhD, I am interested in exploring some of the less studied Plasmodium epigenetic factors as novel targets for antimalarial drugs. I hope to identify new molecular targets in the Plasmodium parasite for which new therapeutics could be developed.

When I first learned about the Fujifilm Fellowship, I eagerly desired to become a fellow. On December 31, 2023, I wrote a prayer to be nominated for the fellowship. So, when I saw the email, it was a dream come true for me. However, I was still very surprised. I am deeply grateful to Fujifilm and the Therapeutics Graduate Program for this honor. As an international student with limited fellowship opportunities, I am delighted and honored to receive this prestigious fellowship. It motivates me to keep working harder and believing that my dreams are valid regardless of my background.

I grew up in Plano, Texas, and moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, for my undergraduate studies at Harvard, where I studied chemistry. During college, I worked in two laboratories, where I studied the genetics of neurofibromatosis type 1 and developed new tools for control of protein glycosylation. After college, I worked as a research assistant in a laboratory at Boston Children’s Hospital, where I developed and evaluated COVID-19 vaccines using mouse models. I came to HMS because of the breadth and depth of research opportunities and the collaborative research community, which will help me grow my scientific abilities.

Kinase signaling is dysregulated in many disease areas, ranging from cancers to neurodegeneration to cardiovascular disease. As a result, kinase inhibitors have become a prominent class of drugs both in development and in the clinic. However, despite the importance of kinases in cell biology and disease, most identified cellular phosphorylation events cannot be attributed to a specific kinase. My work aims to develop and implement a new method for kinase-substrate profiling, improving our understanding of kinase signaling and allowing for the identification of potential new drug targets associated with these kinases of interest.

I was surprised and excited to be selected for this fellowship. I’m extremely grateful to Fujifilm and the Therapeutics Graduate Program for establishing this program and allowing me to be a part of it. I look forward to continuing my research under their support. 

I am from Houston, TX. I did my undergraduate studies at Mount Holyoke College and worked as a research assistant in the Blackwell Lab at the Joslin Diabetes Center before joining my PhD program. 

While antifolate therapies are given to patients with some cancers or with autoimmune diseases, the effects of folate deprivation at the cellular level are not well described. My project can improve our understanding of the signaling pathways essential for cellular survival during one-carbon metabolism perturbation via folate deprivation. 

I am thrilled and honored to be named a Fujifilm Fellow. I am grateful to Fujifilm for their support of my dissertation research and of therapeutics-driven innovation at Harvard. 

I grew up in Heidelberg and Hannover, Germany. I moved to the United States to pursue my undergraduate degree in biochemistry (and minor in chemistry) at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. At UMass, I spent 1.5 years studying the heat stress response in the plant model Arabidopsis thaliana in the context of protein misfolding and chaperone activity of small heat shock proteins and how we could leverage these findings to agriculture in a global warming crisis. At Harvard University, I am able to combine the training of MCO in studying the mechanisms of basic biology with the expertise in human medicine, diseases, and therapeutic development found in TGP and the rest of HMS to develop myself as a researcher at the forefront of future therapeutic development. 

My research into the trafficking and accumulation of alpha-1 antitrypsin in disease holds promise for identifying new therapeutic targets to abrogate the disease-causing accumulation of misfolded protein. My work focuses on TMED cargo receptors, which have been implicated in other protein accumulation diseases. Developing a TMED-targeting strategy could allow for the development of therapeutics not only for alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency but possibly a larger slew of rare genetic diseases lacking therapies.  

I was just returning from vacation and actually thinking of reaching out to the Therapeutics Graduate Program management to learn more about the Fujifilm Fellowship when I got the news. I was very positively surprised!