Willy Lensch, chief of staff to the dean of the faculty of medicine at HMS, was one of thirteen recipients of the Star Family Prize for Excellence in Advising, awarded by the Harvard College Advising Progams Office. The awards recognize and reward individuals who contribute to the College through exemplary intellectual and personal guidance for undergraduate students. Lensch received the award in the category of First-Year Advising and was recognized at an awards ceremony for Star Prize recipients in the Smith Campus Center on May 8.
Sinisa Hrvatin, instructor in neurobiology in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS and a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Michael Greenberg, received the Warren Alpert Distinguished Scholars Fellowship Award from the Warren Alpert Foundation.
Many mammals, including some primates, have evolved the ability to profoundly reduce their metabolic rate and body temperature and enter states to “suspended animation,” such as torpor and hibernation. Using a mouse model of torpor, Hrvatin aims to understand the neuronal circuits that initiate and regulate this profound hypometabolic state as a means to ultimately harness the potential of these adaptations to develop new medical treatments
Alireza Haghighi, HMS instructor in medicine at Brigham and Women’s and lead clinical molecular geneticist of Brigham Genomic Medicine received the 2018 Most Outstanding Contribution of an Individual for Scientific Excellence in Genetic Research Community Impact: International category of the International Genetic Disorders Prevention Award.
Haghighi's research focuses on the genetic basis for human disease, with a focus on heart disease and translating the research discoveries into better diagnostics and improved patient care.
This biennial award honors leading scientists and clinicians who have demonstrated outstanding, generous and sustained contribution towards scientific excellence, research and innovation in creating programs and initiatives for better practices, care and well-being of patients and community. Haghighi received the award and delivered a lecture on his research at a ceremony in Dubai, United Arab Emerates.
Hao Wu, the Asa and Patricia Springer Professor of Structural Biology and professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacologyat HMS and Boston Children’s, has been named to share the 2019 Seymour and Vivian Milstein Award for Excellence in Cytokine and Interferon Research with Akiko Iwasaki of Yale University for making exceptional advances to decipher fundamental mechanisms of innate immunity and cytokine-driven responses. The award will be presented at Cytokines 2019 in October in Vienna, Austria.
Wu is being recognized for unparalleled contributions to the molecular mechanisms of cytokine signaling and illuminating complex structural elements of protein interactions in innate immune signaling. Her in-depth mechanistic elucidation of many important protein complexes, in particular, those used by the tumor necrosis factor receptor (TNFR) family, the Toll-like receptor/interleukin 1 receptor (TLR/IL-1R) family and the inflammasomes, not only changed how we understand cytokine-induced programmed cell death and immunity, but also presented a new paradigm for immune cell signaling.
Jack Shonkoff, HMS professor of pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, received the 2019 LEGO Prize at the LEGO Idea Conference in Billund, Denmark, on April 2. Sponsored by the LEGO Foundation, the prize is awarded to individuals or organizations that have made an outstanding contribution to the lives of children and are champions of learning through play.
Shonkoff, who is the Julius B. Richmond FAMRI Professor of Child Health and Development at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and director of Harvard University’s Center on the Developing Child, was recognized for his outstanding achievement in deepening the world’s understanding of the importance of the early years. He has raised awareness about how young children’s brains develop and about the critical role that parents and caregivers play in supporting and nurturing their children’s growth and learning. He has educated, inspired and motivated the world to think differently about young children and what they need to thrive.
David Reich, HMS professor of genetics in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS, received the 2019 National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology, at the Academy’s annual meeting in April.
Reich has pioneered techniques to study ancient DNA to trace ancient human migrations. A major discovery that has emerged from Reich’s work is the ubiquity of major mixture in the human past. Reich’s discoveries in population history have led to further understanding of human health, including exploring strategies for searching for previously unknown recessive diseases in India and uncovering new risk factors for prostate cancer in African Americans.
The Award in Molecular Biology recognizes a recent notable discovery in molecular biology by a young scientist (defined as no older than 45) who is a citizen of the United States. The awardee is presented with a medal and a $25,000 prize.
Two scientists from Harvard Medical School have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) this year in recognition of their outstanding and continuing achievements in original research.
Daniel Kahne and Bernardo Sabatini are among the 100 new members and 25 foreign associates who will be inducted into NAS in late April 2020. The honor recognizes the significant contributions both have made to the body of scientific knowledge and underscores the intellectual richness of the HMS community.
Kahne, professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS and the Higgins Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and of Molecular and Cellular Biology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University, studies the problem of antibiotic resistance by investigating new approaches for treating resistant bacterial infections. His laboratory is focused on the mechanisms by which various antibiotics disrupt the protein machines that build and breakdown the protective outer membrane of bacteria, particularly those of Gram-negative bacteria. Understanding the mechanisms by which cell walls establish and maintain their integrity could lead to insights on how to interfere with them, presenting the possibility of new targets for antibiotic discovery.
Sabatini, the Alice and Rodman W. Moorhead III Professor of Neurobiology in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS and an investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, studies how experience changes the way brain cells communicate and connect with one another—knowledge that is critical to expanding our understanding of how new behaviors are learned and refined. This work includes biophysical studies of how individual synapses operate and integrative studies of how networks of neurons develop and function. Such studies are often made possible by the tools and techniques—particularly those that push the boundaries of imaging—that are conceived of, designed and built in his laboratory. By studying the developmental changes that influence the process of learning in animal models, his research seeks to determine how perturbations in these processes in humans may contribute to neuropsychiatric disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.
