Awards and Recognitions

3 min read

Gordon Hall

Philip Kranzusch, HMS professor of microbiology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, was one of three recipients of the 2025 Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists. The Blavatnik Awards provide $250,000 in funding to exceptional early-career researchers, making it the nation’s largest unrestricted prize for young scientists.

The awards have become one of the most prestigious in the international scientific community, celebrating investigators who advance groundbreaking research and display exceptional talent, said Nicholas Dirks, president and CEO of the New York Academy of Sciences, which co-hosted the event.

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Kranzusch was recognized for discovering that human innate immunity evolved from ancient pathways in bacteria and explaining the molecular basis for how human cells defend against infections and cancer. He found that key components of human immunity — including those targeted by vaccines and cancer immunotherapies — evolved from ancient bacterial defenses against viruses.

By reshaping fundamental understanding of immune pathways, his work opens new avenues for therapies that harness the body’s natural defenses against infections, cancer, and autoimmune disorders.

Since its inception 19 years ago, the Blavatnik Awards have recognized more than 500 honorees from 120 research institutions. They have gone on to found over 50 companies, raise 2.4 billion dollars in capital, and secure more than 7,300 patents worldwide.

Adapted from New York Academy of Sciences materials.

­Karen Costenbader, HMS professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, received the 2025 Evelyn V. Hess Award from the Lupus Foundation of America. The Hess Award recognizes a clinical or basic researcher whose lifetime of work has significantly advanced understanding of the pathophysiology, etiology, epidemiology, diagnosis, or treatment of lupus, the chronic autoimmune disease affecting up to 1.5 million people in the United States.

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Costenbader was recognized for her extensive and influential contributions to the field of lupus epidemiology. Her work has shed light on clinically relevant environmental, psychosocial, and serologic risk factors implicated in the development of lupus. Specifically, she demonstrated the roles of cigarette smoking, alcohol use, PTSD, depression, and childhood abuse in the development of lupus.

Adapted from Lupus Foundation of America materials.

Six early-career researchers from HMS were named 2025 Wunderkinds by STAT. The Wunderkinds list recognizes postdoctoral fellows, medical residents, interns, medical fellows, and industry scientists based in North America who have completed their terminal degree and are in their first subsequent job or training program.

The six Wunderkinds from HMS are:

  • Jessica Calihan, HMS instructor in pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital, for her efforts to integrate addiction education into pediatric care.
  • Michael Liu, HMS clinical fellow in medicine at Brigham and Women’s, for his work with LGBTQ+ youth.
  • Tarun Ramesh, HMS clinical fellow in medicine at Mass General, for advocating for policies to help immigrant physicians ease the shortage of doctors in rural areas.
  • Soleil Shah, HMS clinical fellow in medicine at Brigham and Women’s, for advocating for primary care physicians and drawing attention to the pay disparity between primary care doctors and specialists.
  • Sandra Shi, HMS instructor in medicine at Hebrew SeniorLife, for using data to improve care for older adults.
  • Tomer Yaron-Barir, HMS clinical fellow in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, for his work to develop treatments for rare cancers.

Adapted from STAT materials.

Eight Harvard Medical School faculty members have been newly elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM).

Election to the NAM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.The new members from HMS are:

  • Facundo Batista, HMS senior lecturer on immunology, part-time, at Mass General
  • Christopher Chen, HMS visiting research professor of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University
  • Wendy Garrett, HMS professor of medicine at Dana-Farber
  • Joel Habener, HMS professor of medicine, emeritus, at Mass General
  • Sun Hur, the HMS Oscar M. Schloss, MD Professor of Pediatrics and professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology at Boston Children’s
  • Oluwaseun Johnson-Akeju, the HMS Dr. Henry Isaiah Dorr Professor of Research and Teaching in Anaesthetics and Anaesthesia at Mass General
  • Sabrina Paganoni, HMS associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Mass General
  • Clifford Woolf, HMS professor of neurology at Boston Children’s

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­The Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine at Harvard Medical School was recognized by the Boston Preservation Alliance at their 37th Annual Preservation Achievement Awards.

First opened in 1965, the Countway Library underwent extensive renovations from 2019 to 2023 that fundamentally reimagined the library’s role on the Longwood Campus. Designed by the architecture firm Shepley Bulfinch, the transformative renovation expanded user spaces, including areas for collaboration, inspiration, quiet concentration, and technology-rich environments like a maker space and state-of-the-art anatomy visualization system. A new pedestrian bridge, ADA-compliant ramps, and a new entrance on Huntington Avenue improved accessibility and reconnected Countway to the surrounding community.

Adapted from Boston Preservation Alliance materials.