Faculty awards, honors, and activities
Summer 2024
Each year, awards are presented to graduating students, faculty, and staff at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Winners were announced at a celebration held in the Kresge cafeteria on May 21.
Celebrating faculty retirements
Two longtime faculty members recently retired. Read more about the accomplishments of Marcello Pagano and Frank Sacks.
In memoriam
Two revered members of the Harvard Chan School community recently passed away. Read more about the lives and significant contributions to public health of former Dean Howard Hiatt and emeritus faculty member Joseph Brain.
Andrew Beam, assistant professor of epidemiology, was listed on Modern Healthcare’s 40 Under 40 Class of 2024 list in March. Nominated by NEJM AI, a monthly journal from NEJM Group for which he serves as deputy editor, Beam was recognized for his contributions to AI research and machine learning.
Jessica Cohen, Bruce A. Beal, Robert L. Beal, and Alexander S. Beal Associate Professor of Global Health received the School’s 13th Annual Alice Hamilton Award in April. Jane Kim, K.T. Li Professor of Health Economics and dean for academic affairs, received the Marianne Wessling-Resnick Memorial Mentoring Award. Read more
Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire, assistant professor of immunology and infectious diseases, received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Columbia in May. She was recognized for her role in the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, ongoing vaccine research, and advocacy for STEM education and vaccine awareness.
A project led by Kevin Croke, assistant professor of global health—”Service Delivery Redesign for Maternal and Newborn Health in Kakamega County, Kenya”—has been selected as a 2024 awardee for the Motsepe Presidential Research Accelerator Fund for Africa. The award was announced in March by the Office of the Vice Provost for Research and the Office of the Vice Provost for International Affairs, in collaboration with the Harvard University Center for African Studies. Read more
The nonprofit Gaples Institute, led by Stephen Devries, adjunct associate professor of nutrition, was recognized by the White House in February for its work preparing the next generation of physicians and other health professionals to equitably incorporate nutrition into medical care. Read more
Christopher Duggan, professor in the Department of Nutrition, was elected to the board of the food assistance nonprofit Project Bread in October.
Manoj Duraisingh, John LaPorte Given Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, and Dyann Wirth, Richard Pearson Strong Professor of Infectious Diseases, recently received honors form the American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene. Duraisingh received the 2023 Bailey K. Ashford Medal for his distinguished work in tropical medicine. Wirth received the Clara Southmayd Ludlow Medal, which recognizes honorees with inspirational and pioneering spirt whose work has advanced the field.
Wafaie Fawzi, Richard Saltonstall Professor of Population Sciences, and professor of nutrition, epidemiology, and global health, was named co-chair of the University’s Presidential Task Force on Combating Islamophobia and Anti-Arab Bias by Interim President Alan Garber in January. Fawzi’s co-chair is Asim Ijaz Khwaja, Sumitomo-FASID Professor of International Finance and Development at Harvard Kennedy School. In conjunction with the Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism, the task force is responsible for exploring bias at Harvard and making recommendations for addressing it.
Wendy Garrett, Irene Heinz Given Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, and Curtis Huttenhower, professor of computational biology and bioinformatics, joined the scientific advisory board of Empress Therapeutics, the company announced in January. The board works closely with company leadership to advance its product platform and pipeline of drug leads.
A study led by Frank Hu, Fredrick J. Stare Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology and chair of the Department of Nutrition, and colleagues was recognized by the American Heart Association (AHA) as one of 2023’s top advances in cardiovascular disease research. The study linked a variety of healthy eating patterns with reduced risk of premature death. Read more
Nora Kory, assistant professor of molecular metabolism, was a recipient of a 2024 Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award, established to support “high-risk, high-reward” ideas with the potential to significantly impact the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of cancer. The award was announced in February.
Xihong Lin, professor of biostatistics, attended a roundtable meeting hosted at the White House in March. She and other Asian American Scholar Forum members met with Arati Prabhakar of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and other White House staff to discuss the vital role of diversity in the U.S. science and technology ecosystem and strategies to maintain the nation’s global leadership in research and innovation.
Rajarshi Mukherjee, assistant professor of biostatistics, was selected to attend the National Academy of Medicine’s Emerging Leaders Forum in Washington, DC, in April. The Forum is an annual assembly of outstanding early- and mid-career professionals in biomedical science, health, health care, and related fields. The invited attendees explore some of the most pressing challenges in health and medicine, with the aim of stimulating collaborative interdisciplinary solutions.
Tim Rebbeck, Vincent L. Gregory, Jr. Professor of Cancer Prevention, received the AACR-American Cancer Society Award for Research Excellence in Cancer Epidemiology and Prevention at the American Association for Cancer Research’s annual meeting in April. The award recognizes outstanding research accomplishments in cancer epidemiology, biomarkers, and prevention. Rebbeck also was elected as a fellow of AACR Academy in January.
Alexander Tsai, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology, was a recipient of the 2023 Outstanding Mentor of Underrepresented in Medicine Faculty and Trainees Award from the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Faculty Development.
Bookshelf
The Biology of Kindness
By Immaculata De Vivo and Daniel Lumera
MIT Press, 2024
264 pages
This book offers scientific evidence that what is commonly ascribed to “spiritual” wellbeing has an impact on physical health, helping to buffer premature aging and decrease the incidence of chronic disease.
Epidemiology and The People’s Health: Theory and Context, second edition
By Nancy Krieger
Oxford University Press, 2024
520 pages
Krieger has thoroughly updated and revised this second edition of her book about theories of disease distribution in past and present societal and ecological context.
Read more: Nancy Krieger wrote the book on epidemiology. Here’s what’s changed since. (Harvard Public Health)
When Misfortune Becomes Injustice: Evolving Human Rights Struggles for Health and Social Equality, second edition
By Alicia Ely Yamin, foreward by Sakiko Fukuda-Parr
Stanford University Press, 2023
326 pages
Yamin weaves together theory and firsthand experience in this survey of the progress and challenges in deploying human rights to advance health and social equality.
Appointments
Aya Goto, Taro Takemi Professor of the Practice of International Community Health in the Department of Global Health and Population and faculty director of the Takemi Program in International Health
Gregg Meyer, professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management
Konrad Stopsack, assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology
Promotions
Yonatan Grad, professor of immunology and infectious diseases
Lorenzo Trippa, professor of biostatistics
Jukka-Pekka (JP) Onnela, professor of biostatistics
