“We must acknowledge...that the most important, indeed, the only, thing we have to offer our students is ourselves. Everything else they can read in a book or discover independently.”
Daniel C. Tosteson, MD, dean for faculty of medicine from 1977-1997, Harvard Medical School
From New England Journal of Medicine 1979
Training Pioneers in Therapeutic Sciences
The Therapeutics Graduate Program focuses on pharmacology, toxicology and drug discovery, emphasizing research in both HMS labs and in real-world internships. Our goal is to provide students with the intellectual tool kit and practical skills necessary to be productive researchers in therapeutics discovery throughout the workforce.
The certificate program offers rigorous, multidisciplinary training relevant to identifying and developing novel therapeutics, understanding and investigating mechanisms of drug action, analyzing the reasons for clinical failures, and developing new compounds and applying them in preclinical and clinical studies to improve the treatment of disease.
This program will provide students with all the tools and skills necessary for these aims, including quantitative skills and modern cutting-edge techniques. This involves elucidating and understanding biological pathways and therapeutic mechanisms, understanding adverse effects to limit toxicity, identifying novel therapeutic targets, and characterizing the pharmacologic profiles (pharmacodynamics and pharmacokinetics) of new compounds. Students will understand the social implications and impact of these activities, and we therefore aim to link this training to industrial, clinical, and regulatory activities and to encourage students to consider their studies in a society-wide context.
Arjun Garapaty
Program: Chemistry & Chemical Biology
Hometown: Overland Park, KS, USA
PI(s): Brian Liau
At Harvard, I’m bridging genomics and small molecules to interrogate protein structure and reprogram key interactions. Proteins are labeled “undruggable” when they don’t possess binding pockets amenable to small molecule action. As chemical biologists, this challenge calls on us to innovate new therapeutic modalities to “drug the undruggable”. I look forward to pursuing projects related to targeted protein degradation (TPD) and cryptic pocket discovery.
I’m learning that breakthrough discoveries made in academic labs require critical funding and guidance before they can become real-world therapies. With my interests in therapeutics, science communication, and business, my long-term goal is to work in VC, business development, or consulting specializing in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology. I hope to fund and advise emerging biotech companies that disrupt entrenched players and put patient benefit first.
Outside of lab I enjoy all things sports: I play soccer, basketball, and flag football. I have fun spending time with friends and family, whether that’s exploring new restaurants in Boston, traveling, or watching NFL Redzone (go Chiefs!). A fun fact about me is that I play competitive table tennis!
