BBS Student Newsletter
Our News page highlights the energy and engagement of our Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS) community. Here you’ll find updates on recent research discoveries, student and faculty achievements, and major program milestones, as well as information about upcoming events. This section serves as the central hub for staying connected to the latest scientific advances, career development opportunities, and community-building activities across our program.
BBS in the News
Researchers Clear Major Obstacle in Genetic Engineering of Proteins
Scientists have been hard at work for more than 20 years to instruct biological systems, such as E. coli cells, to produce proteins they don’t naturally do. Success could mean faster, cheaper, innovative solutions for medicine, agriculture, materials...
The People Powering Progress in Spinal Cord Injury Research
Meet Brooke & Jason. After her stepfather sustained a spinal cord injury, Brooke became the first woman to skateboard across America, raising more than $55,000 for Wings for Life and for research. Jason became a spinal cord injury (SCI) researcher at...
ARPA-H Funds HMS-Led Pilot Project to Develop New Class of RNA Medicines
A team led by Harvard Medical School (HMS) researchers is exploring the possibility of creating an entire new class of medicines, with up to $4.4 million in federal funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) under its PROPEL...
New Screening Approach Expands Search for Compounds That Destroy Disease-Causing Proteins
Harvard Medical School investigators at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute have developed a new laboratory method for systematically discovering molecular glue degraders — compounds that harness cells’ own waste-disposal machinery to destroy disease-causing...
3D Map of Cell Signaling Sites Could Help Improve Cancer Treatment
Cell-communication molecules called kinases play a key role in the growth and spread of many cancers. But exactly which kinases are active in a particular cancer is not always clear — there are 1.8 million sites on human proteins that kinases might act on...
Lab-grown brain ‘organoids’ set longevity record
In a new milestone for stem cell research, Harvard neuroscientists have set a record for keeping alive lab-grown human brain “organoids” and proven that they mimic key developmental stages seen in living people. In a paper published this week in Nature...
Common Neuroscience Sensors Sometimes Get Their Signals Crossed
The future of federally funded research at Harvard Medical School — supported by taxpayers and done in service to humanity — remains uncertain. Learn more. Cells in the brain communicate in different ways. The classical mode involves tight connections...
Bruce Yankner’s Alzheimer’s Research Journey
Bruce Yankner has had a busy few months. In August 2025, his team published a study in Nature showing that lithium is a natural, biologically important element in the brain that has the potential to prevent or even reverse Alzheimer’s disease. The...
2026 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize Awarded for Gene-Editing Therapies
The 2026 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize has been awarded to scientists for their work leading to curative genetic therapies for two major blood disorders: sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia. These diseases affect millions of people around the world...
New Tool Helps Uncover Rare Genetic Mutations in Common Diseases, Including Parkinson’s
Studies of genetics conducted in yeast cells, human neurons, mice, or other model systems often reveal networks of genes that could contribute to complex diseases, such as breast cancer, type 2 diabetes, and Parkinson’s disease. But those findings don’t...
Carla Kim Receives Joseph B. Martin's Dean's Leadership Award for the Advancement of Women Faculty
The JCSW has been awarding Leaders in Advancing Women’s Careers since 1998, when the first Dean’s Award for Leadership in the Advancement of Women Faculty was established. Former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Joseph B. Martin, M.D., Ph.D., initiated...
As They Advance Critical Research, PhD Graduates Agree: ‘Science Is a Community Project’
Community and mentorship shone as prominent themes at the Harvard Medical School-Affiliated PhD Programs Hooding Ceremony on May 28 as scholars received their doctoral hoods after many years studying, collaborating, and stretching themselves as they...
