Dr. Aisha Usmani of Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School discusses how cognitive-behavioral and mindfulness-based approaches can provide a powerful framework for creating resolutions that last throughout the year.

Now in her third year as a fellow at the Student Center at Harvard Griffin GSAS, Maya Jackson strives to care for student parents by creating programming to which they can look forward every year.

Even as Atte Kadoma and Isaias Ghezae are immersed in demanding PhD programs at Harvard, being resident advisor brings balance to their lives and enriches both their student experience and their scholarly pursuits.

Research from GSAS alumni Chanthia Ma & Guanlan Dong sequences the entire genome of individual cells to shed light not only on how brain trauma leads to long-term decline but also on possible shared mechanisms across different neurodegenerative conditions.

Aurélien Dersy is a sixth-year PhD student in physics at Harvard Griffin GSAS whose work straddles high-energy theoretical physics and artificial intelligence.

Jennifer Cruz, PhD ’25, lost her mother to breast and brain cancer when she was 13. Today, she devotes herself to overcoming structural barriers to breast cancer screening in rural communities like Wapato, Washington, where she grew up.

Landing on the moon required the collective effort of hundreds of thousands of people. Understanding how humans achieve these kinds of extraordinary feats is at the core of psychology PhD student Yang Xiang’s research on how our minds navigate collaboration.

As the term and the year draw to a close, take a moment to pause, recharge, and enjoy the season with camaraderie and Harvard Griffin GSAS programming featuring music, snacks, crafting, dancing, and more.

The path from medium-security prison—as well as opioid addiction and family trauma—to a PhD program at the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences is narrow and has few travelers. Somehow, Johnny Smith found his way to it and through it.

With the temps dropping and daylight hours dwindling, it can be easy to feel your motivation do the same. Fortunately, Harvard and the surrounding Cambridge area offer plenty of opportunities to keep moving and reset as the light begins to fade earlier each day. gsas.harvard.edu/news/be-well...

Clinical psychologist and Harvard Griffin GSAS alumnus Ben Bellet’s debut poetry collection, Cadet, is part memoir of his time at West Point, Afghanistan, and Kuwait, where he was a US Army officer, and part meditation on masculinity. gsas.harvard.edu/news/militar...

In preparation for the Ken Burns documentary event on PBS, we're getting a primer on the founding of the US from Phil Mead, PhD '12, former chief historian and curator of the Museum of the American Revolution in Philadelphia.

A ground breaking gene-insertion technology developed by the musically-inclined Harvard Griffin GSAS PhD student Isaac Witte and colleagues may bring us closer to treating diseases like cystic fibrosis at their genetic root.

What the Healthy Minds Survey reveals about student well-being.

Harvard Griffin GSAS alumnus Philippe Aghion was honored with a share of the 2025 Nobel Prize in Economics for developing a mathematical model that explains how “creative destruction” drives economic growth.

By studying works of “quotidian horror,” PhD student Andrea Garza explores the ways that stories can enable us to look squarely at violence and take action instead of turning away or falling prey to paralysis.

Leadership transitions are inevitable; peaceful transitions are not. How can societies ensure that power changes hands without violence? In his dissertation, PhD student Daniel Lowery examines how monarchs in Europe and Asia transferred power across the centuries.

Even as it hopes to beat rival teams at this year’s Head of the Charles Regatta, the larger goal of the Rowing Club at Harvard Griffin GSAS is to make rowing more inclusive and accessible, and to strengthen the University’s graduate student community.

Harvard Griffin GSAS alumni share the knowledge they create not only in scholarly and scientific journals, but also in books written both for those in their field and for a wider audience. Here is a sampling of recently published works by graduates. gsas.harvard.edu/news/recentl...

Rhine Samajdar, who earned his PhD in physics from the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (Harvard Griffin GSAS) in 2022, has been named one of twelve recipients of the 2025 Boeing Quantum Creators Prize.

Powel Kazanjian, AM ’02, draws on his training in both medicine and the humanities to explore why diseases like syphilis, AIDS, and COVID-19 continue to afflict populations despite major biomedical advances.

Cornell University historian Mary Beth Norton, PhD ’69, discusses how the conflict on New England’s frontier shaped the Salem witch trials, revealing a story of trauma, refugees, and accusations in 17th-century Massachusetts.

The 2025 Centennial Medalists established the basis for new knowledge and new fields of study. All of this year’s honorees are renowned for building the foundations of their disciplines.

Michele Cheng is a second-year PhD student in music at Harvard Griffin GSAS. An interdisciplinary composer, improviser, multi-instrumentalist, and puppeteer, Cheng explores storytelling through sound, performance, and object theater.

A May 2025 graduate of Harvard Griffin GSAS with a PhD in biological and biomedical sciences, Adebanjo Adedoja’s connection with people is top of mind as he conducts research on one of humanity’s great concerns: how to live a longer, healthier life.

Drawing on history, public policy, and demographic data, Harvard Sociology Professor Christopher Muller, PhD ’14, explores the shifting dynamics of racial and educational inequality in the US criminal justice system.

In her new book The Double Tax, Harvard Griffin GSAS PhD student Anna Gifty Opoku-Agyeman explains how racism and sexism compound across beauty, housing, work, and motherhood—and why eliminating those costs benefits everyone.

The latest issue of Colloquy, our alumni #magazine, is now available online! Read about how sleep works, the secrets to a longer life, and much more. 📖

Elizabeth Klerman, MD/PhD ’90, a professor at MGH, and a faculty affiliate of Harvard Medical School, contends we’re almost certainly not getting enough rest, we probably don’t know how tired we are, and our sleep debt is affecting our work and health.

We know that graduate school is its own life chapter, a stepping stone toward your goals and dreams. Counseling and Mental Health Services offers advice and resources for caring for yourself as a Harvard student. gsas.harvard.edu/news/be-well...

With a welcoming environment featuring activities including game nights and musical performances, the Student Center at Harvard Griffin GSAS is a place to find rest, entertainment, learning opportunities, and community amid the graduate school experience.

Harvard Griffin GSAS is proud to present the resident advisors for the 2025–2026 academic year.

Harvard Griffin GSAS political scientist Andrew O’Donohue talks about his new research on prosecutions of former presidents, why they create tradeoffs for democracy, and the growing global problem of how to deal with political leaders who violate democratic norms.

Patryk Kozlowski studies quantum chemistry that could one day lead to the next generation of renewable energy as a PhD student in chemistry and chemical biology. He says the lessons he learned during his recovery from leukemia and stroke have made him a better researcher.

Applied physics PhD candidate Yash Rana uncovers a hidden culprit of fertility decline: dysfunction of mitochondria, the cell's powerhouse. Watch now: gsas.harvard.edu/news/restori...

Duke University Professor Herman Pontzer, PhD ’06, says that a deeper understanding of how our bodies evolved and how that process shapes our biology can help us better take charge of our health.

PhD candidate in Near Eastern languages and civilizations Sergio Alarcón Robledo explores ancient Egyptian architecture through an interdisciplinary approach that sits at the crossroads of archaeology, Egyptology, and architecture. Watch and listen now:

Tiara Lacey crossed the chasm from undergraduate biology major to PhD research scientist thanks to Harvard’s Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program. Now she helps others do the same.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Gabriel Romero-Agosto worried he’d be unable to participate in Harvard’s SHURP program. Today, as a PhD candidate at Harvard Griffin GSAS, he studies the same virus that nearly derailed his first experience at the University.

2025 Harvard Horizons Scholar Mack Fitzpatrick sheds light on the complex record-keeping system of khipus: intricate knotted cord devices that served as the administrative backbone of the Inka civilization. gsas.harvard.edu/news/colloqu...

PhD student Muhammad Ahmad has pinpointed important genes that regulate the retention and burning of fat in fruit flies and mammalian cells. His goal? To develop gene-editing therapies that could be a low-side-effect, permanent therapy for obesity.

A new study from the laboratory of Duke University Professor Herman Pontzer, PhD ’06, indicates that diet, not a sedentary lifestyle, is behind the overweight epidemic in developed nations.

Nadia Rosenthal, PhD ’81, discusses her journey through Harvard as a female scientist, a midnight “eureka” moment, and mentoring women who come through her lab.

Funding cuts to Harvard reverberate far beyond our campus. Recent cuts have impacted dozens of hospitals, universities, and research institutions with which Harvard partners across 32 states.

Lidia Moura, PhD ’21, discusses her journey from Brazil, her work on ensuring healthcare systems do better for patients, and a conversation at Harvard that revitalized her commitment to her work.

Binxu Wang is a research fellow at @kempnerinstitute.bsky.social, where she focuses on visual neuroscience and understanding generative AI. She discusses her research on primate brains, learning to survive in science as an introvert, and more.

Alumnus Alkis Hadjiosif discusses how strokes affect movement, how he came to the field of neuroscience, and the rewards of working with patients in clinical settings.

What if some of the carbon absorbed by plants doesn’t stay locked away, but instead leaks back into the soil, shaping the climate in unexpected ways? PhD candidate Nikhil Chari studies root exudates and their role in the global carbon cycle.

Artificial intelligence is becoming more powerful and more present in our everyday lives. As more people turn to AI for help with everything from education to parenting advice, are critical mistakes being made in how it is used and understood?

We’re thrilled to introduce the 2025 cohort of #KempnerInstitute Graduate Fellows! This year’s recipients include grad students enrolled across five @harvard.edu Ph.D. programs. Read more: bit.ly/3TYzZ5H #AI #NeuroAI #ML