Harvard Biological & Biomedical Sciences PhD Program | PhD Program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences

Harvard BBS

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Harvard’s Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS) Program offers Ph.D. training in the biosciences, grounded in genetics, biochemistry, and molecular, cellular, and mechanistic biology. BBS brings together research communities drawn from Harvard Medical School’s basic science departments and interdepartmental programs. In each one, faculty and trainees with shared interests work closely to advance research in their field and take part in training geared to the many career paths open to today’s PhDs. BBS pairs an unmatched choice of labs, thanks to its breadth and depth, with the close-knit feel of a smaller departmental program.

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News & Research

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Discovery Challenges View of How Cells Communicate During Inflammation

October 20, 2026

When the immune system detects a threat, cells communicate with one another through signals that activate inflammation. Scientists have long understood that these signals are relayed through receptors: proteins on or inside cells that detect danger and...

New Screening Platform Helps Identify Genes With Tissue-Rejuvenation Potential

October 20, 2026

Researchers have developed a new method for predicting tissue age and screening for genes that affect the aging process. Using these methods, the team — led by George Church , the Robert Winthrop Professor of Genetics in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard...

11 Harvard Medical School Researchers, Educators Elected to National Academy of Medicine

October 20, 2026

BBS Faculty: Kathleen Burns, HMS professor of pathology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, for work on transposable elements in human disease. Her discoveries have highlighted long interspersed nuclear element-1 (LINE-1) activity as a source of heritable...