Two HMS researchers have received Giants of Cancer Care awards from OncLive. Now in its 14th year, the Giants of Cancer Care awards recognize oncology leaders whose innovations have contributed to “immeasurable improvements in outcomes for countless patients with cancer.”
Robert Haddad, HMS professor of medicine at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, was recognized for his work on head and neck cancers, including his role in pivotal phase 3 studies supporting the FDA approval of docetaxel, nivolumab (Opdivo), and pembrolizumab (Keytruda) in head and neck cancers.
Irene Ghobrial, HMS professor of medicine at Dana-Farber, was recognized for her research on myeloma. Ghobrial’s lab focuses on early detection and intervention for patients with precursor conditions at risk of developing B-cell malignancies.
Adapted from OncLive press materials.
Four HMS researchers have received the Smith Family Award for Excellence in Biomedical Research. The awards support early-career biomedical researchers with three years of funding in the amount of $400,000.
The Smith Family awardees from HMS are:
- Xin Gu, HMS assistant professor of cell biology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, for her research project, “Transcriptional Regulation by Midnolin-Directed Proteasomes on Chromatin.” Gu will study how the protein midnolin directs cells’ protein-recycling machinery to DNA, where it may help regulate gene activity. The findings could reveal new ways to understand and treat cancers that evade normal protein degradation.
- Sahin Naqvi, HMS assistant professor of pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, for his research project, “Decoding Transcription Factor Dosage Sensitivity: Insights From Neural Crest Development.” Naqvi will investigate why some neural crest cells — a type of embryonic stem cell in vertebrates — are more vulnerable than others to small changes in the gene-regulating proteins that guide development. The findings could improve understanding of birth defects such as Hirschsprung’s disease and support the development of stem cell-based therapies.
- Shira Weingarten-Gabbay, assistant professor of microbiology in the Blavatnik Institute at HMS, for her research project, “Mapping the Translatome of Arboviruses To Decode Dual-Host Plasticity.” Weingarten-Gabbay will explore how mosquito-borne viruses such as Zika, dengue, and chikungunya use the same genome to produce different proteins in human and mosquito cells, helping them adapt to both hosts. The findings could uncover new targets for antiviral drugs and vaccines and improve efforts to predict and prevent future outbreaks.
- Qinheng Zheng, assistant professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at HMS, for his research project, “Pharmacological Restoration of Mutant G Protein Activity.” Zheng aims to develop drugs that repair a cancer-causing mutation in a key cellular signaling protein, restoring its ability to switch off abnormal growth signals in pancreatic cancer cells. The approach could lead to a first-of-its-kind treatment for pancreatic cancer and establish a new strategy for treating diseases by repairing, rather than blocking, defective proteins.
Adapted from Health Resources in Action press materials.
Three researchers from HMS have been elected Fellows of the Royal Society, the United Kingdom’s national academy of sciences. Past Royal Society fellows have included Stephen Hawking, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, and Dorothy Hodgkin.
Contributions from the new cohort of fellows “reflect the highest standards of scientific endeavor,” said Sir Paul Nurse, president of the Royal Society. “Whether advancing our understanding of vaccines or exploring the transformative potential of mathematics and computation, their work exemplifies the enduring value of curiosity, creativity, and rigorous inquiry.”
The new Royal Society Fellows from HMS are:
- Facundo Batista, HMS senior lecturer on immunology, part-time, at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate director and scientific director of the Ragon Institute of Mass General Brigham, MIT, and Harvard
- Debora Marks, professor of systems biology at HMS
- Clifford Woolf, HMS professor of neurology at Boston Children’s Hospital
Adapted from Royal Society press materials.
Sharon-Lise Teresa Normand, the S. James Adelstein Professor of Health Care Policy at HMS, has been named a fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (IMS). Fellowship in the IMS, an international professional and scholarly organization, recognizes distinction in research in statistics or probability.
Normand was cited for her “careful and inventive development and application of statistical methods in health policy, especially in cardiology,” as well as for her service, mentoring, and professional leadership in medical statistics.
Adapted from IMS press materials.
Jack Kincaid, a third-year MD student at HMS, and Sangwoo Park, HMS research fellow in medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, have been chosen to attend the 2026 Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting.
The annual Lindau Meeting brings together Nobel laureates and a few hundred promising young scientists from around the world. The meeting alternates between physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, and economic sciences, providing the leading scientists of the future the opportunity to educate, inspire, and connect with one another and some of the top minds of their fields. This year marks the 75th Lindau Meeting.
Following a selective application and review process, Kincaid and Park will have the opportunity to spend a week with their peers and field leaders in Lindau, Germany, this summer.
Adapted from Lindau Meeting press materials.
Daniel Lesman, an MD-PhD student in biophysics, has been named a 2026 Hertz Foundation fellow. The Hertz Fellowship provides doctoral students with the financial freedom to pursue innovative research with significant social impact.
“Year after year, the Hertz Fellowship identifies individuals whose ambitions go far beyond personal achievement. This class is no exception,” said Stephen Fantone, chair of the Hertz Foundation board of directors.
“Our newest Hertz Fellows are committed to solving problems that matter for our national security, our health, and our future,” Fantone added.
Lesman’s research centers on developing computational and experimental techniques to study proteins that circulate in the blood. He previously spent two years at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, earning master’s degrees in global health and statistics. Lesman earned a bachelor’s degree in biomedical science from The Ohio State University, where he worked on therapeutics for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
