Awards & Recognition: August 2016

Andrew KruseAndrew Kruse, assistant professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at HMS, has won a 2016 Young Investigator Award from the Bert L and N Kuggie Vallee Foundation.

The award recognizes outstanding young scientists at a critical juncture in their careers and provides $250,000 in discretionary funds for basic biomedical research.

Kruse will be investigating the human sigma-1 receptor, an enigmatic membrane protein linked to neurodegenerative disease. Transmembrane receptor signaling is one of the most fundamental processes in biology, and transmembrane receptors are the largest group of therapeutic drug targets. Kruse will use biophysical and structural methods to characterize sigma-1 activation and its therapeutic potential. He will also employ a protein engineering approach to identify stabilizing synthetic antibody fragments to facilitate crystallization and functional studies in cells.


Iman Berrahou​Iman Berrahou, Class of 2018, has been selected as a 2016-2017 Boston Albert Schweitzer Fellow. The Oliver Wendell Holmes Society student is among 15 graduate students who will spend the next year learning to effectively address the social factors that impact health and developing lifelong leadership skills.

Schweitzer Fellows develop and implement service projects that address the root causes of health disparities in under-resourced communities, working under the close guidance of community and academic mentors. Each project is implemented in collaboration with a community-based health or social service organization.

Berrahou’s project addresses disparities in cervical cancer screening rates for transgender men, lesbians and bisexual women by creating a sustainable media campaign to increase education and awareness. The campaign will include powerful stories from community members describing both positive and negative experiences with cervical cancer screening, as well as interviews with practitioners sensitive to the needs of LBT people. Ultimately, the project, based at the Boston Alliance for Gay Lesbian Bisexual Transgender Youth, aims to improve patients’ and practitioners’ comfort surrounding cervical cancer screening for the LBT community and to empower LBT people to become advocates within their community and for themselves in seeking health care.


HMS London Society student Vivian Liu Class of 2019 was selected as one of the 15 medical students and 15 residents to receive the American Society of Hematology HONORS (Hematology Opportunities for the Next Generation of Research Scientists) award.

The award is intended to support the career development of North American medical students and residents who are interested in hematology.

Recipients receive a $5,000 stipend to conduct hematology research projects, which are overseen by an ASH member research mentor. They also receive $1,000 per year for two years to attend a program orientation at the ASH annual meeting and exposition.


Lynn Matthews

Two HMS faculty members have received Clinical Scientist Development Awards from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. They were among 17 junior physician-scientists chosen from 169 applicants who will each receive $495,000 over three years to support their transition to independent research careers.

This year’s awardees from Harvard Medical School are:

  • Lynn Matthews, assistant professor of medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital
    • Research: Adherence to periconception HIV risk-reduction among HIV-exposed uninfected women in rural Uganda
    • Disease area: Infectious diseases
  • Elaine Yu, assistant professor of medicine at Massachusetts General HospitalElaine Yu
    • Research: Skeletal fragility and fracture risk after bariatric surgery
    • Disease areas: Endocrinology and metabolic diseases

Two HMS faculty members were among 22 researchers who have been named to the Pew Scholars Program in Biomedical Sciences, which provides funding to young investigators of outstanding promise in science relevant to the advancement of human health.

The two Pew Scholars from HMS are:

Radhika Subramanian, HMS assistant professor of genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital, who work aims to elucidate how the primary cilium, a small structure that extends from the surface of the cell as its “antenna,” serves as a major signaling hub for mediating cell-to-cell communication. The expectation is that fundamental mechanisms that establish cilium architecture for signaling will be uncovered and the work could aid in the development of therapeutic agents for birth defects or cancer.

Dragana Rogulja, assistant professor of neurobiology, will research how incoming sensory information is muted during sleep, particularly in the context of an aging brain. This work will provide insights into the biology of sleep and could point toward therapeutic approaches for treating insomnia and other disorders in which sleep is disturbed.

The program makes grants to support the independent research of outstanding individuals who are in their first few years of their appointment at the assistant professor level.