Faculty news: Spring 2026
Graduation awards
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 26. Pictured at right, Goodarz Danaei, Bernard Lown Professor of Cardiovascular Health, Global Health and Population, received one of this year’s mentoring awards. See full award list
Three faculty members elected to National Academy of Sciences
Three faculty from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health were elected as members of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in April: Gökhan Hotamışlıgil, James Robins, and Pardis Sabeti. NAS members are elected in recognition of their distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
In memoriam
Barry Bloom, former dean and Joan L. and Julius H. Jacobson Professor of Public Health, emeritus, in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, passed away March 18 evening following a long battle with cancer. He was 88. Read more
Guy Crosby, adjunct associate professor in the Department of Nutrition, and noted author and television personality, died on February 3 at age 83, following a long illness. Read obituary
Victor De Gruttola, professor of biostatistics, emeritus, and former chair of the Department of Biostatistics, passed away March 18. Read more
Awards and honors
Lisa Berkman, Thomas D. Cabot Professor of Public Policy and of Epidemiology, was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in April.
Tianxi Cai, John Rock Professor of Population and Translational Data Sciences, was named the 2026 Mosteller Statistician of the Year by the Boston Chapter of the American Statistical Association. Read an interview.
Kizzmekia Corbett-Helaire, Melvin J. and Geraldine L. Glimcher Assistant Professor of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, was selected as a 2026 TED Fellow.
Barbra Dickerman, assistant professor of global cancer prevention, received the Outstanding Mentor Award from the Harvard Chan School Postdoctoral Association for mentorship of postdoctoral researchers during the 2025–2026 academic year.
Michaela Kerrissey, associate professor of management, received the 2026 Warren Bennis Prize for the article she co-authored, What People Get Wrong About Psychological Safety.
Yuan Ma, assistant professor of epidemiology, received an Aramont Fellowship for the project Decoding the Biology of Longevity and Cognitive Resilience Over Four Decades: Integrating Geroscience and Population Science.
Timothy Rebbeck, Vincent L. Gregory, Jr. Professor of Cancer Prevention, and collaborators received a 2026 Motsepe Presidential Research Accelerator Fund for Africa award for the project Preventing Prostate Cancer Deaths in African Men: The Value of Early Detection.
Kristopher Sarosiek, associate professor of radiation biology and cell death, received a 2026 Summer Fellows Grant from the St. Baldrick’s Foundation.
Uwe Siebert, adjunct professor of health policy and management, and epidemiology, received the 2026 Career Achievement Award from the Society for Medical Decision Making.
Jordan Smoller, professor in the Department of Epidemiology, received the 2025 Martin Research Prize in Population Health Sciences from Massachusetts General Hospital Executive Committee on Research for the paper Mapping the Genetic Landscape Across 14 Psychiatric Disorders.
Mingyang Song, associate professor of clinical epidemiology and nutrition, was elected vice chair of the Obesity, Metabolism & Nutrition Section of the American Gastroenterological Association.
Briana Stephenson, assistant professor of biostatistics, received the 2026 Emerging Leader Award from the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies. Read an interview
Alexander Tsai, associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology, received the Research Mentorship Award from the American Psychiatric Association.
Jessalyn Ubellacker, assistant professor of molecular metabolism, received an AACR Trailblazer Research Grant from the American Association for Cancer Research for her project “Inducing lipid peroxidation in lymph node cancer cells to promote systemic immunogenicity.”
Tyler VanderWeele, John L. Loeb and Frances Lehman Loeb Professor of Epidemiology, was appointed by Pope Leo XIV to the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences. Read more
Rochelle Walensky, Menschel Fellow, will receive the Tzedakah Lifetime Achievement Award from the Wyner Family Jewish Heritage Center in Boston on June 4, The event will feature a conversation between Walensky and Kevin Tabb, CEO of Beth Israel Lahey Health.
Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition, received the prestigious Prince Mahidol Award in Public Health. Established in honor of HRH Prince Mahidol of Songkla, known as “The Father of Modern Medicine and Public Health of Thailand,” the award recognizes outstanding contributions to the advancement of international medical and public health. Read more
Appointments
Immaculata De Vivo, professor in the Department of Epidemiology, was reappointed Melanie Mason Niemiec ’71 Faculty Codirector of the Sciences at the Harvard Radcliffe Institute for the 2027–2029 term.
Rita Hamad, professor of social epidemiology and public policy, was appointed faculty director of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies.
Kari Nadeau, John Rock Professor of Climate and Population Studies, was named dean of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, effective July 1.
Bookshelf
Renowned public health entomologist Andrew Spielman is featured in the new book To Life: Jews Exploring Nature by Joel Greenberg (Rutgers University Press). Spielman, who was professor of tropical public health in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases when he passed away in 2006, was known for his pioneering work on vector-borne diseases—especially diseases spread by mosquitoes and ticks, including malaria, Lyme disease, dengue, babesiosis, and West Nile virus.
