News
CISID Welcomes New Investigators
January 20, 2026
CISID is pleased to welcome two new investigators to our research community. Lucas Meirelles joins us as an Assistant Professor at both CISID and the Center for Computational and Integrative Biology (CCIB) at Massachusetts General Hospital. The Meirelles lab investigates host-pathogen co-adaptation in chronic lung infections and its impact on antibiotic efficacy. Marina Cella joins the Broad Institute as a Senior Group Leader in the Immunology Program. Dr. Cella recently transitioned from Washington University where she pioneered research on how innate immune cells detect pathogens and orchestrate immune responses.
Jacques Deguine Named Institute Scientist
January 9, 2026
Jacques Deguine, Director of the CISID Immune Profiling Innovation Lab, has been named an Institute Scientist at the Broad Institute. This appointment recognizes leaders who are essential to shaping the scientific strategy and catalyzing the high-impact collaborations central to the Broad’s mission. Congratulations, Jacques!
Abraham Lab Maps Drug-Bound Herpesvirus Replication Complex
December 30, 2025
Herpesviruses are a large family of viruses responsible for lifelong infections, birth defects, and cancers. Current drugs face rising resistance, making the helicase-primase (H/P) complex a critical alternative target. Published in Cell, the Abraham lab solved the structures of H/P complexes bound to DNA and inhibitors, providing a blueprint for advancing the next-generation antiviral drugs.
Balskus Lab Reports Structure of the Bacterial Genotoxin Colibactin
December 4, 2025
The Balskus lab successfully elucidated the structure of colibactin, bacterial genotoxin linked to colorectal cancer. By cross-linking colibactin to DNA to solve its structure, the Balskus lab gained key insight into how the toxin recognizes and reacts with DNA. Published in Science, this study provides a vital mechanistic link between the microbiome and cancer.
Xavier and Deguine Decipher How Gut Neurons Respond to Microbiota
October 30, 2025
Reported in Science, the Xavier and Deguine labs used single cell RNA profiling and in vivo genetic perturbation to chart how the enteric nervous system responds to microbial cues and immune signals. This study offers new insights into neuro-immune-microbe interactions and serves a foundational resource for understanding the enteric nervous systems’s role in health and disease.
Congratulations, Emily Balskus!
October 16, 2025
The Texas A&M Section of the American Chemical Society and the Department of Chemistry of Texas A&M University named Emily Balskus the 2025 A. Ian Scott Medal Recipient. This award recognizes excellence in biological chemistry research.
Congratulations, Ann Woolley!
October 2, 2025
New England Donor Services (NEDS) announces Dr. Ann Woolley as the organization’s next Chief Medical Officer, commencing 2026. Dr. Woolley currently serves as the Clinical Director of Transplant Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and as an NEDS Medical Director, bringing deep expertise and vision to her new role as CMO of NEDS.
Congratulations, Laura Kiessling!
August 15, 2025
The Society for Glycobiology awarded Laura Kiessling with the 2025 Karl Meyer Lectureship. This international award recognizes outstanding contributions in the field of glycobiology.
Congratulations, Yonatan!
April 18, 2025
2025 began with a celebration of Yonatan Grad’s tenure appointment in the Department of Immunology and Infectious Diseases at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Congratulations, Yonatan!
Helaine Lab develops tool to track bacterial persisters
October 7, 2024
Reported in PNAS, the Helaine Lab has developed a novel “genomic recorder” called pSCRATCH to map the fate of growth-arrested Salmonella persisters. Tracking bacterial persisters will enable us to discriminate how antibacterial treatment failure and relapsing infections might originate from bacterial persistence or resistance.
