Seth Rakoff-Nahoum, Harvard Medical School associate professor of pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, has been named a 2024 Innovation Fund investigator by the Pew Charitable Trusts. The Innovation Fund supports creative and cross-disciplinary partnerships among alumni of Pew’s three biomedical programs.
Eight pairs of researchers were named to the 2024 class of investigators. They will collaborate on interdisciplinary research projects that explore foundational questions about human biology and disease, with the goal of advancing scientific discovery and improving human health.
Rakoff-Nahoum and his research partner, Jing-Ke Weng of Northeastern University, plan to investigate the relationship between food and health by using isotopic labeling to precisely trace food molecules’ pathways, modifications, and host interactions.
“Now more than ever, interdisciplinary approaches are key to solving the world’s most pressing scientific challenges,” said Donna Frisby-Greenwood, Pew’s senior vice president for Philadelphia and scientific advancement.
Adapted from Pew Charitable Trusts press materials.
Two studies led by HMS researchers have received funding from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). These awards will provide more than $156 million to 13 new patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) projects, as well as research to improve methods and strengthen the science of engagement in CER.
The PCORI-funded studies and their HMS primary investigators are:
- “Comparing the Effectiveness and Safety of Existing Therapies for Menopause-Related Insomnia Symptoms,” principal investigators Suzanne Bertisch, HMS associate professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s, and Susan Redline, the HMS Peter C. Farrell Professor of Sleep Medicine at Brigham and Women’s.
- “Advancing Rare Disease Comparative Clinical Effectiveness Research Through Unsupervised Machine Learning,” principal investigator Isaac Kohane, the Marion V. Nelson Professor of Biomedical Informatics and head of the Department of Biomedical Informatics in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS.
Adapted from PCORI press materials.
Five students and trainees from HMS have been named to Forbes’ 2025 30 Under 30 list in the fields of health care and science. The annual 30 Under 30 lists recognize 600 young leaders driving change in business and culture across 20 different industries.
The HMS individuals recognized by Forbes are:
- Douglas Ford, master of bioethics student at HMS, recognized for cofounding Chromie Health. Chromie uses AI to predict hospital patient demand to optimize nurse scheduling.
- Rishi Goel, HMS clinical fellow in medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, recognized for his research into how the immune system learns and adapts over time and for applying these insights to develop new immunotherapies. As a physician-scientist, he is working to identify immune fingerprints that help determine which treatments benefit specific patients across a variety of diseases.
- Suhas Gondi, HMS clinical fellow in medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, recognized for his research into the role of venture capital and private equity in health care. He authored a paper published in JAMA Internal Medicine showing most hospitals were not complying with new price transparency rules, which prompted Medicare to audit those providers and impose penalties.
- Jorge Martin Rufino, HMS clinical fellow in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, recognized for his work enabling scientists to make hundreds of direct genetic edits to blood stem cells from bone marrow, which could lead to improved anti-leukemia therapies and contribute to the treatment of diseases such as sickle cell disease.
- Tanvee Varma, HMS clinical fellow in medicine at Brigham and Women’s, recognized for her efforts to advance diversity in clinical trials for cancer treatments. She was a leader in creating the Diversity Good Pharma ScoreCard, a ranking system that evaluates pharmaceutical companies on how well the patients in their clinical trials represent the patients who would benefit from the therapy being tested.
Two HMS faculty members have been elected to the 2024 Class of Fellows of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). The highest professional distinction awarded solely to inventors, the NAI Fellowship recognizes groundbreaking innovation.
The 2024 NAI Fellows represent 135 research universities and governmental and nonprofit research institutions worldwide, and their work crosses disciplines. Fellows are known for the societal and economic impact of their inventions, contributing to major advancements in science and consumer technologies, the NAI says.
“Each of these individuals are tackling real-world issues and creating solutions that propel us into the future,” NAI President Paul Sanberg said of the 2024 fellows. “Through their work, they are making significant contributions to science, creating lasting societal impact, and growing the economy.”
The two new fellows from HMS are:
- Lilit Garibyan, HMS associate professor of dermatology at Massachusetts General Hospital. Garibyan’s research focuses on identifying unmet medical needs and working with multidisciplinary teams to develop novel treatments for those needs. She has more than 16 pending and granted patents; her inventions include a platform cooling technology with various therapeutic applications. She also cofounded and directs a program that teaches the process of innovation to clinicians.
- Francisco Quintana, HMS professor of neurology at Brigham and Women’s. The Quintana Lab combines advanced genomic and proteomic tools with innovative experimental models to study the regulation of the immune response in health and disease, with the goal of identifying novel therapeutic targets and biomarkers for immune-mediated disorders.
Garibyan and Quintana will be inducted as NAI Fellows at the NAI annual meeting in June in Atlanta.
Adapted from NAI press materials.
