With excellent labs and institutions encircling 400 the Fenway in the Longwood Medical and Academic area and beyond, Emmanuel College is often found at the center of innovation in the sciences.
October 24th was no different, as roughly 200 students, faculty and alumni gathered for an Emmanuel School of Science & Health event at Merck & Co., located on the Emmanuel campus. At the event, which was organized as part of Emmanuel College's 'Majors Week' for the School of Science & Health, attendees listened to a fireside chat with guest speaker and renowned molecular biologist Dr. Feng Zhang.
In her opening remarks, Emmanuel College President, Beth Ross, Ed.D., reminded those in attendance of “when and where they are” – placed in such a center of ideas in the heart of Boston.
“All of us here at Emmanuel have unique opportunities to hear from and interact with individuals who, with brilliance and drive, are literally creating the future in their fields,” she said – “such is certainly the case this evening!”
Dr. Zhang, a core member at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, is a microbiologist who focuses on improvements in human health. His work has played a crucial role in the development of optogenetics and CRISPR-Cas systems – and has helped pioneer its use in genome editing for therapeutic purposes.
Dr. Zhang was introduced by another member of the Emmanuel community, who was once in the shoes of the new alumni and current students at 400 The Fenway: Emmanuel alumni and Trustee Dr. Christopher Borges ’10. Dr. Borges, who is now Head of Non-Viral Gene Therapy and Genome Engineering at Sanofi, got his first job after receiving his Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School at Editas Medicine, a company founded by Dr. Zhang.