MGH Research Scholars Notebook

Thanks to you and your generous support, our MGH Research Scholars are accomplishing extraordinary things each day. Together, we’re taking new discoveries as far as we can, as fast as we can—toward new possibilities in disease prediction, prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

We hope you find this update informative and inspiring. Please email us your comments and questions.

Katia Georgopoulos, PhD

Katia Georgopoulos, PhD, a Pioneer in Leukemia Research

Katia Georgopoulos, PhD, Jean and Terry de Gunzburg MGH Research Scholar 2014-2019, has been a pioneer in cancer research ever since she discovered IKAROS proteins at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1992. She continues to study these proteins and how mutations within them can affect the immune system and lead to leukemia. LEARN MORE.

We can no longer rely on steady funding from the NIH, which is why it’s so important to have the support of the MGH Research Scholars program.

Katia Georgopoulos, PhD
Jean and Terry de Gunzburg MGH Research Scholar 2014-2019

Galit Alter, PhD

Galit Alter, PhD, Co-Founds New Website to Explain the Science of COVID-19

Galit Alter, PhD, Samana Cay MGH Research Scholar 2017-2022 and Kristine and Bob Higgins MGH Research Scholar 2012-2017, helped create a website dedicated to simplifying and fact-checking COVID-19 information. LEARN MORE.

Matthais Nahrendorf, PhD

Matthias Nahrendorf, MD, PhD, Honored with Endowed MGH Research Institute Chair

Matthias Nahrendorf, MD, PhD, Weissman Family MGH Research Scholar 2014-2019, has been named the Richard Moerschner Endowed MGH Research Institute Chair in Men's Health. This award was made possible through a family of generous and visionary philanthropists. LEARN MORE.

Yakeel Quiroz, PhD

Yakeel T. Quiroz, PhD, Honored for Contributions to Alzheimer’s Research

Yakeel T. Quiroz, PhD, MGH Research Scholar 2020-2025, was recently awarded the Inge-Grundke-Iqbal Award for Alzheimer’s Research from the Alzheimer’s Association. The award is presented to the senior author of the most impactful study published in Alzheimer’s research during the two calendar years preceding the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.

Dr. Quiroz’s groundbreaking Nature Medicine study in November 2019 identified two copies of a rare gene mutation in a Colombian woman that may have protected her from developing early-onset dementia for decades despite being genetically predisposed to it. Learning how this gene mutation prevents the onset of the disease could lead to new prevention and treatment strategies for all Alzheimer's patients. READ MORE.

Andrew Chan, MD, MPH

Andrew Chan, MD, MPH, Helped Develop Smartphone App to Track and Identify COVID-19 Patterns

Andrew Chan, MD, MPH, Stuart and Suzanne Steele MGH Research Scholar 2017-2022, helped create a COVID-19 symptom tracker app called COVID-19 Symptom Study. The app has revealed patterns that suggest six distinct types of COVID-19 and racial disparities in infection rates among health care workers. LEARN MORE.

Ingrid Bassett and Mark Poznansky

Ingrid Bassett, MD, MPH, and Mark Poznansky, MD, PhD, Mentor Underrepresented Students in New COVID Intern Program

The Mongan Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital created the COVID Corps Biomedical Research Internship Program to serve promising students from historically underrepresented groups in biomedical sciences whose internships were impacted due to COVID-19.

Through the program, undergraduate and graduate interns will be able to conduct original, investigative research with the help of Mass General experts in fields such as epidemiology, computational biology, immunology and more.

Ingrid Bassett, MD, MPH, Weissman Family MGH Research Scholar 2018-2023, and Mark Poznansky, MD, PhD, Steve and Deborah Gorlin MGH Research Scholar 2015-2020, serve as mentors to students in the program. The program was launched by Andrew Chan, MD, MPH, Stuart and Suzanne Steele MGH Research Scholar 2017-2022, and Long Nguyen, MD, MS.