Alberto Ascherio, Joel Habener, and David Liu.
Images provided by Alberto Ascherio and Joel Habener, photo by Veasey Conway/Harvard Staff Photographer
Health
Three Harvard researchers receive Breakthrough Prizes
‘Oscars of Science’ honor significant advancements in genetic modification and treatment of MS and obesity
On Saturday, three Harvard scientists were awarded the 2025 Breakthrough Prizes — often referred to as the “Oscars of Science.” This accolade, initiated in 2013 by Sergey Brin, Priscilla Chan, Mark Zuckerberg, Yuri and Julia Milner, along with Anne Wojcicki, honors remarkable contributions in life sciences, fundamental physics, and mathematics.
Six awards were unveiled, with the individuals from Harvard being:
Alberto Ascherio, a professor specializing in epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, as well as an educator at Harvard Medical School, received recognition for his research which identified the Epstein-Barr virus infection as a primary factor in the onset of multiple sclerosis.
MS is a persistently inflammatory condition of the central nervous system impacting approximately 2.9 million individuals globally, and there is currently no known cure. The Epstein-Barr virus, classified as a herpes virus, is known to cause mononucleosis and leads to a lifelong dormant infection.
Throughout his extensive research lasting over 25 years to uncover the root cause of multiple sclerosis, Ascherio experienced no singular “aha” moment; however, the findings from his 2022 study in Science were significantly impactful. Analyzing data from over 10 million U.S. military personnel followed for two decades, Ascherio and his team revealed that contracting the Epstein-Barr virus markedly heightened the likelihood of developing multiple sclerosis in later years — marking the first convincing proof of a cause behind this debilitating illness.
This breakthrough transformed the landscape of MS research, prompting the development of a vaccine and antibody therapies aimed at targeting Epstein-Barr. “There’s now a broad agreement that Epstein-Barr is the preeminent cause of MS,” Ascherio remarked. “I’m pleased to share that after 25 years, we’ve made a significant impact.”
Discover more about Ascherio and his work on MS and Epstein-Barr here.
Joel Habener, a faculty member at Harvard Medical School, was recognized along with a cadre of researchers for their pivotal role in uncovering and classifying the hormone glucagon-like peptide-1, or GLP-1 — research that subsequently spurred the creation of therapies based on GLP-1.
GLP-1 is a hormone generated in the small intestine, crucial for regulating blood glucose, managing appetite, and controlling digestive processes. This hormone must communicate proficiently with various other hormones and several organs and systems, including the stomach, pancreas, liver, brain, heart, blood vessels, and immune system to carry out these intricate functions.
The comprehensive research conducted by the five scientists, partially funded by federal resources, has vastly improved our understanding of GLP-1’s mechanisms within the body. Particularly, their efforts led to the emergence of GLP-1 medications, which have transformed approaches to treating Type 2 diabetes and obesity.
Learn more about Habener and the GLP-1 research here.
David Liu — the Richard Merkin Professor at the Broad Institute, head of the institute’s Merkin Institute for Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, and the Thomas Dudley Cabot Professor of the Natural Sciences at Harvard — was acknowledged for creating gene editing technologies such as base editing and prime editing. These tools can rectify the majority of known pathogenic genetic mutations and have already been employed in at least 15 clinical trials, yielding life-saving outcomes. Notably, base editing was recently utilized to achieve the first-ever rectification of a mutation linked to disease in patients.
Developed by Liu’s team in 2016, base editing allows for the direct conversion of one DNA base pair to another. Prime editing, introduced by his group three years afterward, enables the insertion, deletion, and substitution of sequences of up to hundreds of base pairs long in the genome.
Since their inception, both base editing and prime editing have been adopted by numerous laboratories globally, facilitating the exploration and potential treatment of a wide range of genetic disorders.
“The true champions of our achievements are the exceptionally skilled graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and collaborators who dedicatedly worked to innovate these technologies in beneficial ways for society,” Liu expressed. “Without their commitment, these advancements would have been unattainable. It’s the greatest privilege of my career to work alongside and support such a dynamic collective of scientists.”
Read more about Liu and his groundbreaking gene editing work here.