Program
“Understanding the microbiome may transform our understanding of how healthy bodies become diseased, how aging leads to infirmity, and how we could alter our internal ecosystems to prevent and treat a vast range of conditions.”
– Michelle A. Williams, Former Dean, Harvard Chan School
Email
hcmph@hsph.harvard.edu
Location
677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115
Program
For information, please contact Nicole Levesque (levesque@hsph.harvard.edu)
More information is available on the main Symposium Page.
May 18, 2026
(All times below are EDT)
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Also available via Zoom
| 8:30 – 8:45 | Welcome & Introduction |
| 8:45 – 9:00 | Opening Remarks Eric Rubin, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Editor-in-Chief of the New England Journal of Medicine |
| 9:00 – 10:00 | |
| 10:00 – 10:30 | Laura Cox, Brigham and Women’s Hospital “Dissecting strain-specific roles of the gut microbiome in neurologic diseases” |
| 10:30 – 10:45 | |
| 10:45 – 11:00 | |
| 11:00 – 11:30 | Break |
| 11:30 – 12:00 | Robert Britton, Baylor College of Medicine “The impact of the infant microbiome on brain development and cognition” |
| 12:00 – 12:30 | Jose Clemente, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai “A tale of two trials: microbiome interventions in early life” |
| 12:30 – 1:30 | Lunch Break |
| 1:30 – 2:15 | Discussion panel: “Commercialization of microbiome science” |
| 2:15 – 2:30 | |
| 2:30 – 2:45 | |
| 2:45 – 3:15 | Break |
| 3:15 – 3:45 | Jean McGee, Brigham and Women’s Hospital “The gut feeling behind healthy skin: Expanding the role of the gut microbiome in dermatology” |
| 3:45 – 4:45 | James Collins, Massachusetts Institute of Technology “Microbiome-friendly medicine: engineering live therapeutics and AI-designed antibiotics” |
| 4:45 – 5:00 | Closing Remarks |
| 5:00 – 6:30 | Poster Reception (also available online all day) |