News: HST Community Awards and Spring Dinner celebration

HST students, both current and alum, as well as faculty and staff, gathered for a scientific keynote, and to celebrate the end of a busy school year.

Mindy Blodgett | HST-IMES

Benjamin Levine Ebert, president and CEO of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, spoke at the annual HST Community Awards and Spring Dinner—where he detailed some of the recent advances in cancer research, detection and treatment, while reminiscing about his time as medical and PhD student and discussing the importance of leadership—telling the attendees of the annual event, that “mentorship matters, leadership matters.”

Ebert, who is also the director of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center, and the Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS), advised the audience, comprised of HST students, alumni, faculty, and staff, that they should “be unafraid of new technology, seek advice and collaborate,” and he counseled that “the biggest career decisions are less big than you think.”

“Mentorship is profoundly important, and it doesn’t stop being important, throughout your entire career,” said Ebert, HST MD ’99, a graduate of Williams College, and who received a doctorate from Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar in the laboratory of Sir. Peter Ratcliffe. Ebert did his residency in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and a fellowship in hematology/oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. 

During his talk, Ebert cited Wolfram Goessling, MD PhD, Co-director of HST, Robert H. Ebert Professor of Medicine, Health Sciences and Technology, HMS, and Chief, Division of Gastroenterology, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), for Goessling’s skills as a leader. He recognized Goessling, who has announced that he will be leaving HST in the fall (to become chair of the Department of Internal Medicine at Yale School of Medicine, and the Physician-in-Chief in Medicine for the Yale New Haven Hospital system) as “a model of a physician-scientist…a groundbreaking scientist, thank you for all you have done for HST.”

The annual traditions of the HST Community Awards and Spring Dinner, including the scientific keynote, took place April 30 at the Inn at Longwood in Boston. There were 137 attendees, who gathered to honor the award recipients, and to hear Ebert’s talk. 

This year's HST Community Awards and Spring Dinner took place at the Inn at Longwood in Boston on April 30.

As is tradition, a portion of the night was devoted to HST students conferring awards upon members of the HST community; for teaching, mentoring, and service.

The HST Dinner Seminar series was launched in 1974 with a generous grant from the Kieckhefer Foundation. Past speakers have included Ai-Ris Yonekura Collier, Assistant Professor in Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School (HMS); Francois Jacob, winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine and Physiology; Mary Ellen Avery, Thomas Rotch Morgan Professor of Pediatrics; Edward K. Rodriguez, chief of orthopedics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), and Susan Hockfield, professor of neuroscience and President Emerita of MIT.

The 2025 HST Awards Committee­­­—including the following HST students: Katelyn Li, Aarthi Vijayakumar, Julia Vidlak, Mickey Sloat, Zade Akras, Sebo Diaz, and Evelyn Tong—organized the awards nomination process, and was chaired by Li. Collin M. Stultz, MD PhD, Nina T. and Robert H. Rubin Professor, Electrical Engineering & Computer Science; Co-director, HST, and Associate Director, MIT Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES), was the emcee for the awards part of the evening. IMES is HST’s home at MIT.

After dinner, Goessling introduced Ebert, touting the history of the HST Dinner Seminar Series.

Here are the awards, the recipients and presenters:

• HST Outstanding Teaching Award – Student: Nicita Mehta, HST MD/PhD, for her outstanding work as the teaching assistant for HST.020 Musculoskeletal Pathophysiology.

Presenters: HST professor Mary Bouxsein and HST MD/PhD student Irene Anthony.

Given annually to a current HST student who has made noteworthy contributions to one or more classes in the HST curriculum through remarkable efforts as a teaching assistant.

Left to right: Mary Bouxsein, Nicita Mehta, Irene Anthony

• Irving M. London Teaching—Faculty: Dr. Daniel Bauer, Dr. Jason Freed, and Dr. Sol Schulman (faculty for the HT080 Hematology course).

Presenters:  HST MD student Ashu Raman and Julia Vidlak, HST MD/PhD 

Awarded annually to recognize teaching faculty who have made exemplary contributions to the teaching of HST students.

Left to right: Ashu Raman, Dr. Sol Schulman, Dr. Jason Freed, Dr. Daniel Bauer, Julia Vidlak.

• Seidman Prize for MD Research Mentorship: Dr. Gaurav Gaiha, MD, DPhil, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and attending physician in gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).

Presenters: HST MD student Aarthi Vijayakumar and Anusha Nathan, MD/PhD student

Established in 1999, this award is presented annually to the person who, through the warmth of their personality, inspires and nurtures HST students in their scientific and personal growth, and through honest advice and generosity to all students and colleagues sets an admirable example of excellence and mentoring.

Left to right: Aarthi Vijayakumar, Dr. Gaurav Gaiha, Anusha Nathan

• Roger G. Mark Outstanding Service Award (Student): HST MEMP students Diana Grass, Kimberly Bennett, and Davy Deng (co-founders and co-presidents of the MIT First-Generation Low-Income group).

Presenter: HST MEMP student Abdallah Lamane.

Presented annually to a member of the student body whose excellence in action and deed embodies HST community values and ideals.

Left to right: Davy Deng, Kimberly Bennett, Abdallah Lamane, Colin M. Stultz, Diana Grass

• Roger G. Mark Outstanding Service Award (Faculty/Staff):Kate Hodgins, Associate Director of Curriculum and Student Affairs, Academic Office at Harvard Medical School (HMS)

Presenter: HST MD student Lynn Bi.

Presented annually to a staff or faculty member whose excellence in action and deed embodies HST community values and ideals.

Left to right: Collin M. Stultz, Lynn Bi, Kate Hodgins, Wolfram Goessling

• Thomas A. McMahon Mentoring Award: Dr. Mohini Lutchman, PhD, neurobiology lecturer at Harvard Medical School.

Presenters: HST MD/PhD students Jill Jones and Nour Saida Harzallah 

Given annually to recognize teaching faculty who have made exemplary contribution to the teaching of HST students.

Left to right: Collin M. Stultz, Nour Saida Harzallah, Dr. Mohini Lutchman, Jill Jones, Wolfram Goessling

• IMES Prince Prize: Marissa Morales, HST MEMP, third year.  She has developed and filed a pending patent for a method of rapid, ultrasensitive pathogenic detection using immunomagnetic beads and Raman spectroscopy. Her invention could transform the capabilities of pathogen detection in many applications of agriculture, economy, and healthcare, from food and water safety to sepsis diagnosis.

Presenter: Collin M. Stultz 

HST alumnus Dr. Martin Prince established this prize, which awards one current HST MEMP PhD student a $5,000 cash prize for work resulting in a patentable invention. The work must have been been performed while enrolled in HST.

Left to right: Marissa Morales, Collin M. Stultz

More information about the HST student awards can be found here.