Faculty & Research

Within every cell, the genes that define us hold the keys to understanding health and human potential. Harvard scientists are uncovering how these tiny sequences shape who we are—and how they can transform the future of medicine.

After their daughter was diagnosed with alternating hemiplegia of childhood (AHC), a rare and life-threatening neurological disorder, the Frost family partnered with Harvard scientists to advance groundbreaking gene-editing research that offers new hope for those affected by AHC and other rare diseases.

Harvard Medical School professor Jessica Whited is studying the ability of axolotls to regrow limbs with the ultimate goal of discovering how to stimulate limb regeneration in human patients.

Recent federal funding cuts are hitting climate research hard. The losses will hamper progress, Harvard environmental scientists say, but they won’t stop it.

A new collaboration between Harvard and Berkeley, the Green Industrial Strategy Project is exploring how governments and companies can develop strategies that enhance economic competitiveness and facilitate global decarbonization in a world of intensifying geo-economic competition.

A Harvard atmospheric modeling team has created an online platform that could help communities identify areas in need of controlled burns or other fire management strategies, with the goal of preventing future uncontrolled fires and, more specifically, reducing smoke exposures.

Climate change is altering the Earth’s smells and how we perceive them. Experts gathered at Harvard Radcliffe Institute to explore—and try to remedy—this sensory deficit.

Harvard research leads to a new law giving states profits from clean energy, which will be particularly beneficial for rural communities in the American West. 

Climate Up Close—a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that includes climate scientists from Harvard—discusses climate change at community centers across the U.S., where they with presentations designed to foster open dialogue and trust between scientists and American communities. 

Inspired by his upbringing, public policy expert Dustin Tingley studies how the transition to renewable energy impacts communities by merging data with insights from people’s lived experiences.