College | Medical and Graduate | Postdoc and Fellow

New England
Science Symposium

The 23rd Annual New England Science Symposium (NESS) will take place on Saturday, March 23, 2024 at the Harvard Medical School Joseph B. Martin Conference Center located at 77 Avenue Louis Pasteur in Boston, Massachusetts.

Program Overview

The New England Science Symposium (NESS)

Established in 2002, NESS provides a forum for postdoctoral fellows; medical, dental and graduate students; post-baccalaureates; college and community college students (particularly for African-American, Hispanic/Latino and American Indian/Alaska Native individuals) to share their biomedical and health-related research activities through oral or poster presentations, to engage in discussions related to career development in the sciences, to exchange ideas and to expand their professional networks.

Register as a general attendee.

View the flyer.

Download the agenda.

Abstracts are no longer being accepted for the 23rd Annual New England Science Symposium.

2024 Keynote Address

Jose C. Florez, M.D., Ph.D., is the Physician-in-Chief and Chair of the Department of Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and an Institute Member at the Broad Institute. As the Department Chair, he oversees 10 clinical Divisions, seven research Units/Centers, and 19 training programs, comprising over 1,000 faculty members, 900 trainees (clinical fellows, research fellows, and medical residents), and 100 medical practices.

Dr. Florez received his B.A./M.S. from Northwestern University, where he remained to obtain his M.D./Ph.D. in the Medical Scientist Training Program. He then came to the MGH where he completed his medical residency and a fellowship in Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolism. Prior to becoming Chair of the Department, he was Chief of the Endocrine Division and the Diabetes Unit. Through his research career, he and his team have contributed to the conduct and analysis of high-throughput genomic studies in type 2 diabetes and related traits in multiple international consortia. He is particularly interested in advancing precision medicine and pharmacogenetics as applied to diabetes. He has led the genetic initiatives of the NIH-funded Diabetes Prevention Program and the Glycemia Reduction Approaches in Diabetes—A Comparative Effectiveness (GRADE) clinical trial, and he designed the Study to Understand the Genetics of the Acute Response to Metformin and Glipizide in Humans (SUGAR-MGH). He is clinically active in the MGH Down Syndrome Program, the Endocrine inpatient consult service, and the Bigelow medical service. He is an inducted member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physicians, and the recipient of the 2010 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers. In 2019 he received the Father of the Year award from the American Diabetes Association. 

Check out the Resources and Guidance page to help you prepare an abstract or presentation.

Have questions about NESS? See our Frequently Asked Questions and Eligibility Checklist page.

NESS AWARDS

Awards are given for outstanding oral and poster presentations in various disciplines and the categories are: Ruth and William Silen, M.D. Awards, Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Awards, Postdoctoral Awards sponsored by Vertex, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Department of Neonatology Award, TACS BIO Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Award, American Cancer Society Awards, and Predicine Translational Research Award.

See the description of the awards.

View the 2023 award winners.

NESS SPONSORS

Logo | HMS Identity Guide
Minority Faculty Development Program (MFDP)

The Minority Faculty Development Program (est.1990), a component of DICP, sponsors programs for the development of Harvard Medical School faculty and trainees, with an emphasis on mentoring and leadership, as well as programs that are designed to reach out to the pre-college, college, graduate and postdoctoral populations with the goal of bringing outstanding students from groups underrepresented in medicine into the biomedical science pipeline.


Biomedical Science Careers Program (BSCP)

BSCP was founded in 1991 by MFDP in collaboration with the Massachusetts Medical Society and the New England Board of Higher Education to identify, inform, support and provide mentoring for academically outstanding minority students and fellows ranging from high school to postdoctoral level.

SUPPORTER

Logo of Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Vertex is a global biotechnology company that invests in scientific innovation to create transformative medicines for people with serious and life-threatening diseases. We discovered and developed the first medicines to treat the underlying cause of cystic fibrosis (CF), a rare, life-threatening genetic disease. In addition to clinical development programs in CF, Vertex has more than a dozen ongoing research programs focused on the underlying mechanisms of other serious diseases.

 

Contact

For more information about NESS please contact:

Victoria Bhambhani
Program Manager
New England Science Symposium
victoria_bhambhani@hms.harvard.edu

Hollie Borek DeSilva
Executive Director
Biomedical Science Careers Program
hollie_desilva@hms.harvard.edu