Yearly Symposium
As part of our mission to provide a platform for knowledge exchange and collaboration, the TGP holds an annual symposium showcasing some of the most novel research and developments in Therapeutics. From Harvard faculty, to industry experts, and our own TGP students, the TGP Symposium highlights the talents within our program and in the field.
2026
Therapeutics Education Across HMS & Beyond
Oct 27th, 10:00 am - 4:00 pm
Keynote: Jane Grogan, Ph.D.​
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Jane Grogan, Ph.D. is Executive Vice President (E.V.P.) and Head of Research at Biogen. Dr. Grogan joined Biogen in 2023, bringing nearly two decades of experience leading biotech research, including fifteen years with Genentech. Dr. Grogan most recently served as the Chief Scientific Officer at Graphite Bio and ArsenalBio, both cell and gene therapy companies. During her time at Genentech, she served in several increasingly senior roles across Immunology and Immuno-oncology, covering research strategies and drug development across RA, Lupus, MS, IBD and Cancer. Preceding her career in the Biotechnology Industry, Dr. Grogan completed her Ph.D. in immunology at Leiden University and her B.Sc in Biochemistry and Pharmacology from the University of Melbourne.​
Faculty Speaker: Aaron Schmidt, Ph.D.
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Aaron Schmidt's research focuses on the development of adaptive immune responses, protein evolution and the interactions between host and pathogen using a combination of biophysical, biochemical and molecular virology techniques. His team are structural biologists who bring mechanistic and quantitative approaches to address fundamental problems in virology and immunology. They primarily study orthomyxo- and flaviviruses but our interests extend to emerging viruses (e.g. alpha-, arena-, bunya- and filoviruses) and other pathogens. The Schmidt Lab are strong believers in collaboration and are always open to pursuing new directions and pathogens.
Faculty Speaker: Xin Zhou, Ph.D.
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Xin Zhou is an Assistant Professor of Biological Chemistry & Molecular Pharmacology at Harvard Medical School and of Cancer Biology at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. An enthusiastic cell biologist and protein engineer, Xin is passionate about designing new biomolecules to decipher cell signaling mechanisms and rewire cellular behaviors for therapeutic applications. She is a recipient of the James S. Huston Antibody Science Talent Award, the Helen Gurley Brown Foundation Trailblazer Award, the MIT Technology Review's Innovators Under 35 (Regional), and the NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award.
Faculty Speaker: Jean Schaffer, M.D.
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Jean completed her AB and MD degrees and clinical training in medicine and cardiology at Harvard University. She then trained in cell biology with Harvey Lodish at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. From 1995-2019, she was a faculty member at Washington University in St. Louis, where she was appointed as the Virginia Minnich Distinguished Professor, and she directed the NIH-funded Diabetes Research Center. In late 2019, she was recruited to the Joslin Diabetes Center at Harvard. Jean is a recipient of the American Heart Louis N. Katz Prize, the Heinrich Wieland Prize, and the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Avanti Award.
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Alumni Speaker: Ajinkya Patil, Ph.D.
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Ajinkya is a Principal Scientist in the Discovery Biology and Pharmacology division at Pfizer Inc. He focuses on cross-functional drug discovery programs developing molecular glue and induced-proximity therapeutics, with an emphasis on enabling new ways to modulate challenging protein targets. He earned his Ph.D. in Virology from Harvard University and trained at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in the laboratory of Dr. Cigall Kadoch, where he combined functional genomics with chromatin and condensate biology to uncover how disordered regions regulate protein interaction networks and activity of the cBAF chromatin remodeler.
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Alumni Speaker: Caroline Keroack, Ph.D.
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Caroline is currently working on developing new tools to study cellular differentiation in Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of American trypanosomiasis (Chagas disease). She is particularly interested in identifying the expression signatures of parasites undergoing phases of differentiation and mapping how those gene regulatory networks contribute to key morphological changes in the parasite. She earned her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences in Public Health in 2022 from Harvard University.
Main Atrium:
-Merck Research Laboratories
33 Avenue Louis Pasteur, Boston, MA 02115
- Walking distance from Longwood Campus, and opposite Veritas Research Building.
Student Speaker (IMMUNO): Davis Garner
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I am a geneticist and immunologist that investigates the intricacies of the human genome: its structural and functional brushstrokes, three-dimensional dances, epigenetic rhythms, and disease-state poses. Most importantly, I am invested in discovering beauty within the cell nucleus. Current PhD candidate at Harvard University's immunology program.
Student Speaker (BBS): Emmalyn Lecky
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Emma Lecky received her BS degree from the University of Connecticut. Her research focuses on the role of the PI3K/AKT pathway in RNA modifications and the AKT interactome.
Student Speaker (SSQB): Matthew Knotts
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Matthew Knotts is a PhD student in the Systems, Synthetic, and Quantitative Biology (SSQB) program at Harvard University. His research bridges computational chemistry, machine learning, and structural biology, with a focus on protein engineering and drug discovery.
Student Speaker (CHEMBIO): Olivia Lavidor
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Olivia grew up in the suburbs of Boston, and decided to stay in Massachusetts for her undergraduate and graduate education. She earned her BS in Biochemistry from Boston College in 2021 where she did research in the Weerapana Lab developing peptide probes for cysteine-profiling mass spectrometry. She then spent two years as a technician in the Harrison Lab at HMS working on vaccines and viral immunology.
Student Speaker (MMSc TS): Nick Foley
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Nick is interested in using chemical biology and structural biology to discover novel therapeutics. In the Dick lab at Drexel University College of Medicine, he characterized HIV capsid modulators and latency-reversal agents. Nick is now in the Blacklow lab, where he is investigating the conformational dynamics of the protease that cleaves Notch and designing a selective agonist for the Notch2 isoform.
Student Speaker (MMSc TS): Sophia Schroeder
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Sophia’s research focuses on overcoming T cell exhaustion in solid tumors. She’s currently studying the controlled removal of PD-1 from the surface of T cells and the resulting interactions between tumor cells and immune receptors. She ultimately aims to uncover strategies for improving the effectiveness of CAR-T therapy.
Student Speaker (MMSc TS): Xiaolei Linda Song
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Linda is master student from the Therapeutic Science Program at the Harvard Medical School, and she conducts thesis research in the Majzner Lab at DFCI. She is interested in immunoengineering and translational medicine, with a focus on developing engineered immune-cell therapeutic strategies.
Fellow Speakers (HealthTech): Amanda Ward, Anupama Shah, Grace Hatton, Sophia Ye, Yige Cao
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The Harvard Medical School HealthTech Fellowship is a 10-month training program that teaches the Biodesign innovation framework and prepares the next generation of health care innovators to set new standards in care through technology, engineering, business, and science.
Valerie Cavanaugh Jessica Frank
Janet Chen Frank Obeng Addae
Drew Cope Marija Simjanoska
Xiaonuo Noya Fan Oyku Sumer
Eric Hao Ziyuan Zhao
Taku Ishihara
Tina Kotsaninis
Winston Luo
Rajvi Parmar
Rafee Quereshi
Derek Tung
Emilie Zhang