News

Rare disease treatment and care relies on the combined efforts of clinicians, researchers, and families. Yet these people rarely find themselves in the same room. BridgeRD brought together stakeholders to address challenges of understanding, diagnosing, and treating rare diseases.

Ron Vale, a world-renowned cell biologist who is an expert on motor proteins and cell transport systems, joins Whitehead Institute this December as a Member.

Whitehead Institute's Innovation Centers are a source of research services and much more, including potent collaborators and thought-partners. Graduate student Pushkal Sharma in Whitehead Institute Member Ankur Jain’s lab learned this firsthand by working with Heather Keys, the director of the Functional Genomics Platform, on research into small molecules called polyamines.

Iain Cheeseman and colleagues reveal the underappreciated role of single genes producing multiple proteins in atypical presentations of rare disease, and present case studies of affected patients through a collaboration with Boston Children’s Hospital. The findings help to identify genetic mutations that may contribute to rare diseases.

Whitehead Institute is pleased to announce that Margaret Fala will be the Institute’s new Vice President for External Relations. She is an accomplished administrator with a strong track record in academic and healthcare fundraising.

Margaret Sand (1938-2025) was Whitehead Institute’s first head of HR, who helped build the faculty and remained a great friend of Institute throughout her life.

Please join us for an afternoon honoring David Baltimore – pioneering scientist, mentor, and friend – to celebrate his lasting impact on science and the countless people whose lives and careers he inspired.

Most cells in our body live and die. But the germline, the cells that produce eggs and sperm, must carry on forever. How the germline successfully produces the next generation is a long-studied question. In our first installment of Research Threads, we follow the research of Whitehead Institute Member Yukiko Yamashita. Through a string of discoveries made over years, the Yamashita lab is teasing apart how the germline remains immortal.

Julia Wucherpfennig is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Member and director Ruth Lehmann’s lab studying the relationship between Wolbachia bacteria, which infect many insects around the world, and their insect hosts. We sat down with Julia to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

The Whitehead Innovation Initiative, funded through a generous gift by Michael and Victoria Chambers, explores the power of AI tools in biological research, while establishing Whitehead Institute as a leader in applying AI tools to biological questions—often with direct implications for human health. Here are some of the achievements from the program's first year.