HUSEC Creates Seed Fund for Cross-faculty Collaboration

The Harvard University Science and Engineering Committee (HUSEC) has announced that it is now accepting proposals for a new seed funding program, the HUSEC Seed Fund for Interdisciplinary Science. Established to support collaborative interactions between faculty, the program will promote research and educational activities at the interface of two or more scientific disciplines. Such cross-faculty collaborations could include, but are not limited to, time-delimited research projects, courses, small-scale conferences, and working groups. Details of the program are available on the HUSEC website at http://harvardscience.harvard.edu/directory/programs/husec. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis and will be reviewed quarterly. The committee anticipates that the first round of reviews will be completed by May 31. Applications should be submitted by e-mail to Melissa Cote at Melissa_cote@harvard.edu.

Global Citizen Award Honors Sustainable Development

The HMS Center for Health and the Global Environment presented the 2008 Global Citizen Award to former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and restaurateur Alice Waters. The award honors individuals doing outstanding work to protect the global environment.

Laurie Rhodes Eric Chivian (above left), director of the HMS Center for Health and the Global Environment, presented Alice Waters (above right) with the Global Citizen Award.

During his tenure at the U.N., Annan demonstrated his commitment to environmental protection and sustainable development by launching programs such as the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, which studied the effect of climate change on human well-being. Currently, Annan is chair of the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, which seeks to increase profitable, productive, and sustainable farming practices in Africa. Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, accepted the award on Annan’s behalf at the ceremony on Feb. 3 in New York City.

Waters, chef and owner of Chez Panisse Restaurant and Café in Berkeley, Calif., was a pioneer in the movement for eating locally and sustainably. She is also an advocate for improving school lunches and using food traditions in educational programs. Through her Chez Panisse Foundation, Waters launched the Edible Schoolyard, an organic garden and kitchen classroom at Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Berkeley.

The HeinzSeed Program received the 2008 Corporate Council Award for its work in promoting sustainable agriculture in developing nations.

Honors and Advances

•Samia Khoury, HMS professor of neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and co-director of the Partners Multiple Sclerosis Center, was awarded the 2007 Kuwait Prize for Sciences by the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences for her work in immunology. The award ceremony will take place in December 2008 in Kuwait.

Invitational Awards Announced

Each year, several foundations invite a limited number of HMS junior faculty and postdocs to apply for their awards. Potential candidates must first apply through the HMS Faculty Fellowship Program. The HMS Fellowship Committee then chooses the HMS applicants to apply to the foundations. Updated information on the fellowships is available online at http://medapps.med.harvard.edu/fellowships. An informational town meeting will be held on March 6, 12–1:30 pm in the Waterhouse Room on the first floorof Gordon Hall. The internal application deadline is April 9 in the Office of the Dean for Academic and Clinical Programs, Gordon Hall, Rm. 101.

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