2025 Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center Academic Convocation and Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences Commencement

Established in 2004 with a landmark gift from Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Vice Chair of the MSK Boards of Overseers and Managers, the Gerstner Sloan Kettering Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSK) admitted its first class in the summer of 2006. The school offers the next generation of biomedical scientists an intensive PhD program that trains them to investigate and attack cancer through the twin lenses of basic research and real-life clinical challenges.

GSK faculty are nationally recognized scientists working at the forefront of biomedical research, and the curriculum takes advantage of the unique integration of the basic science and clinical arms of Memorial Sloan Kettering. An intensive lab-work model, along with the opportunity to observe firsthand how research findings are applied, ensures that GSK graduates are well positioned to close the gap between basic and clinical research.

In 2020, GSK launched a new Master of Science in Clinical and Translational Cancer Research (CTCR), which trains physician scholars at MSK to become independent clinical investigators who bridge the gap between basic and clinical cancer research. Through a mix of coursework and mentored research, the CTCR program offers MSK clinicians a mechanism to keep pace with the rapid rate of technological and conceptual advances in cancer biology.

The 2025 MSK Academic Convocation and GSK Commencement will take place on Wednesday, May 14, 2025, at ET 

Watch live on May 14

2025 Honorary Degree and the Memorial Sloan Kettering Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Biomedical Research 

Carolyn Bertozzi, PhD

Professor Carolyn Bertozzi

 

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Carolyn Bertozzi is the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Chemical & Systems Biology and Radiology (by courtesy) at Stanford University, and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She completed her undergraduate degree in Chemistry from Harvard University in 1988 and her Ph.D. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley in 1993. After completing postdoctoral work at UCSF in the field of cellular immunology, she joined the UC Berkeley faculty in 1996. In June 2015, she joined the faculty at Stanford University coincident with the launch of Stanford’s Sarafan ChEM-H Institute.

Prof. Bertozzi’s research interests span the disciplines of chemistry and biology with an emphasis on developing new therapeutic modalities that target disease-related glycobiology. She founded the field of bioorthogonal chemistry, for which she shared the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Her group has invented targeted enzyme therapeutics for immune oncology, Lysosome Targeting Chimeras (LYTACs) for extracellular targeted protein degradation, antibody-lectin chimeras (AbLecs) for therapeutic applications, and site-specific bioconjugation methods for synthesis of next-gen antibody-drug conjugates. Her lab has also developed glycoproteomics technologies for disease biomarker discovery, point-of-care diagnostics for tuberculosis, and ultrasensitive antibody detection methods that are being used to diagnose early onset diabetes and viral infections. Her academic work has launched 12 co-founded biotechnology companies.

Prof. Bertozzi has been recognized with many honors and awards. She is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Inventors and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In addition to the Nobel Prize, she received the Welch Award in Chemistry, Heineken Prize for Biochemistry and Biophysics, Lemelson-MIT Prize, and a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. She received the 2024 Priestley Medal from the American Chemical Society. 

Past GSK Honorary Doctorate of Science Recipients

  • 2024: Elaine Fuchs, PhD
  • 2023: Craig B. Thompson, MD
  • 2022: Dr. Levi Garraway
  • 2021: Dr. Joan Steitz
  • 2020: Dr. James P. Allison
  • 2019: Dr. Kenneth J. Marians
  • 2018: Dr. Cori Bargmann
  • 2017: Dr. Robert Langer
  • 2016: Dr. Joan S. Brugge
  • 2015: Dr. Robert A. Weinberg
  • 2014: Dr. Thomas J. Kelly
  • 2013: Dr. Paul A. Marks
  • 2012: Mr. Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., and Dr. Harold E. Varmus
2025 Gerstner Sloan Kettering PhD Graduates
Yanyang Chen 

Yanyang Chen 
Mechanisms of DNA damage and Innate Immune Activation at Ruptured Micronuclei 
Mentor: John Maciejowski, PhD 

Miguel Francisco Martinez de Jesus 

Miguel Francisco Martinez de Jesus 
Force and Signification in the Immune System: Footprinting Immune Synapsis 
Mentor: Morgan Huse, PhD

Inés Fernández Maestre 

Inés Fernández Maestre 
Elucidating the Effects of Inflammation and Aging in Clonal Hematopoiesis 
Mentor: Ross L. Levine, MD 

Shengyu Gao  

Shengyu Gao  
Cooperative Control of Peripheral T helper Cell Tolerance by TGF-ß and PD-L1 Signaling in Homeostasis and Cancer 
Mentor: Ming Li, PhD  

Eleanor M. Johns

Eleanor M. Johns  
Regulation and Function of Lipid Droplets in Melanoma 
Mentor: Richard M. White, MD, PhD

Sarah Catherine Perlee

Sarah Catherine Perlee  
Identifying In Vivo Genetic Dependencies of Melanocyte and Melanoma Development 
Mentor: Richard M. White, MD, PhD

Troy Michael Robinson  

Troy Michael Robinson  
Interrogating Mutation Clonality and Cooperativity in Preleukemia and Measurable Residual Disease 
Mentor: Ross L. Levine, MD 

Alexander Howard Settle 

Alexander Howard Settle 
Mechanical Regulation of Immune Cell Interfaces: Studies at the Phagocytic Cup and Immunological Synapse 
Mentor: Morgan Huse, PhD  

Zhouyang Shen

Zhouyang Shen  
Mechanism and Importance of Nuclear Membrane Mechanotransduction Under Physical and Pathological Stress 
Mentor: Philipp Niethammer, PhD 

Ryan Smolkin  

Ryan Smolkin  
Plastic Transformation of Developing B Lymphocytes 
Mentor: Jayanta Chaudhuri, PhD

Michael Waarts 

Michael Waarts 
Identification of Therapeutic Targets in Clonal Hematopoiesis 
Mentor: Ross L. Levine, MD

Nan Xu

Nan Xu  
Epigenetic Regulation of Human Developmental Timing 
Mentor: Lorenz Studer, MD

Jielin Yan  

Jielin Yan  
Enhancer Perturbations Reveal Dosage-Dependent Response Underlying the Control of Pluripotency 
Mentor: Danwei Huangfu, PhD 

Haochen Zhang (张皓辰)  

Haochen Zhang (张皓辰)  
Genomic Evolution of Pancreatic Cancer at Single-Cell Resolution 
Mentor: Christine A. Iacobuzio-Donahue, MD, PhD

2025 Gerstner Sloan Kettering MS Graduates
Yonina Robbie Murciano-Goroff

Yonina Robbie Murciano-Goroff, MD, PhD 
Early Circulating Tumor DNA Shedding Kinetics for Prediction of Platinum Sensitivity in Patients With Small Cell Lung Cancer 
Mentors: Alexander Drilon, MD; Piro Lito, MD, PhD 

Varun Narendra

Varun Narendra, MD, PhD
Interrogating and Exploiting TP53 alterations in CK-AML 
Mentors: Scott W. Lowe, PhD; Eytan M. Stein, MD  

Recognition of the Doctoral Dissertation Research

 

Sloan Kettering Division/Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences

2025 Award Winners

 

Research Awards
  • Dorris J. Hutchison Graduate
    • Recognizes outstanding research under the mentorship of an MSK faculty member
    • Awarded to Beatrice Zhang
  • Barbara and Stephen Friedman Graduate Fellowship
  • Bruce Charles Forbes Fellowship
  • Henry and Alexia Fernandez Computational Fellowship
  • Andrew S. Gordon MERIT Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • Marie-Josée Kravis Women in Science Endeavor Graduate Fellowship
  • Marie-Josée Kravis Women in Science Endeavor Postdoctoral Fellowship
  • Postdoctoral Research Awards
    • Recognizes outstanding accomplishments and promise by research fellows or research associates who have been at MSK for at least one year and have published a significant research paper as first author
    • Awarded to Tomasz Kochańczyk, PhD and Xueqian Zhuang, PhD
  • Tri-Institutional Breakout Prize for Junior Investigators
    • Established by leaders from The Rockefeller University, Weill Cornell Medical College, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to recognize exceptional current postdoctoral trainees at each of the three institutions who have made significant research contributions
    • Awarded to Keunwoo Ryu, PhD
  • Louise and Allston Boyer Young Investigator Award for Basic
    • Honors researchers at the Associate level or below who have demonstrated great promise and accomplishment in laboratory investigations
    • Awarded to John Maciejowski, PhD
  • Katharine Berkan Judd Award
    • Recognizes an individual who has made great advancements in the understanding of cancer through basic discovery
    • Awarded to Eva Nogales, PhD
    • The Judd Lecture will occur on Tuesday, May 13, at 4:30 p.m. in the RRL Auditorium. Please join us! 
Clinical Awards
  • Louise and Allston Boyer Young Investigator Award for Clinical Research
    • Honors physicians at the Associate level or below who have demonstrated great promise and accomplishment in clinical investigations
    • Awarded to Eytan Stein, MD
  • Willet F. Whitmore Award for Clinical
    • Honors a clinician whose talent, dedication, and compassion reflect the standards set by Willet F. Whitmore during his more than 46 years of service at Memorial Sloan Kettering
    • Awarded to Eileen O’Reilly, MD
  • C. Chester Stock Award
    • Given annually to an individual who has made significant contributions to the advancement of cancer therapy
    • Awarded to Charles Sawyers, MD
    • The Stock Award Lecture will occur on Wednesday, May 14, at 8:30 a.m. in RRL-116. Please join us!
  • The Society of Memorial Sloan Kettering Prize
    • Recognizes individuals who have made significant or groundbreaking contributions to pediatric oncology, highlighting the long-standing and future-facing partnerships between The Society and MSK and affirming the global leadership of MSK in the field of pediatric oncology
    • Awarded to Todd Golub, MD
    • Please join us for Pediatric Grand Rounds on TBC.