#  MSI Leadership 

 



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MSI's efforts are spearheaded by two co-directors: one is a representative from Harvard's Cambridge campus, and one represents the Harvard entities in Boston. The activities of the initiative are managed and executed by the Scientific Program Manager. The leadership team is advised by the MSI steering committee, who serve as ambassadors within their departments and, in turn, voice the needs and desires of their departments back to MSI so that the leadership team can design programs that best serve the community.



 



###    Co-Directors  expand\_more  

 

 ### Michael Gilmore, Ph.D.

Sir William Osler Professor of Ophthalmology (Microbiology and Immunobiology), Harvard Medical School

Chief Scientific Officer, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary

Director, Infectious Diseases Institute, Harvard Medical School



 

   ![gilmore](/sites/g/files/omnuum4981/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-03/304_202312211713405743_0.jpg?itok=PrJgqDtf) 

 

 

 

 ### Peter Girguis, Ph.D. 

Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University

Adjunct Research Engineer, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute

Adjunct Oceanographer, Applied Ocean Engineering and Physics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution



 

   ![girguis](/sites/g/files/omnuum4981/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-03/girguis.jpeg?itok=yu5SXy26) 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 



###    Steering Committee  expand\_more  

 

 ### Emily Balskus, Ph.D. 

Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University

Associate Member, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT



 

   ![balskus](/sites/g/files/omnuum4981/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-03/balskus.jpeg?itok=jb_vj5WB) 

 

 

 

 ### Lynn Bry, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School

Director, Massachusetts Host-Microbiome Center



 

   ![bry](/sites/g/files/omnuum4981/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-03/bry.jpeg?itok=1TgBzTB_) 

 

 

 

 ### Colleen Cavanaugh, Ph.D. 

Edward C. Jeffrey Professor of Biology, Harvard University

Co-founder, Harvard Microbial Sciences Initiative



 

   ![cavanaugh](/sites/g/files/omnuum4981/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-03/cavanaugh.jpeg?itok=lEEa-qnX) 

 

 

 

 ### Jon Clardy, Ph.D. 

Hsien Wu and Daisy Yen Wu Professor of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School

Senior Associate Member, Broad Institute



 

   ![clardy](/sites/g/files/omnuum4981/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-03/Screenshot%202025-03-21%20at%204.20.16%E2%80%AFPM.png?itok=OsUyLczE) 

 

 

 

 ### Ashlee Earl, Ph.D. 

Research Scientist, Director of the Bacterial Genomics Group, Institute Scientist, Broad Institute



 

   ![earl](/sites/g/files/omnuum4981/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-03/bio-ashleeEarl.jpg?itok=39gXGPgQ) 

 

 

 

 ### William Hanage, Ph.D. 

Professor of Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Co-Director, Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics



 

   ![hanage](/sites/g/files/omnuum4981/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-03/hanage.jpeg?itok=zbw7FyH4) 

 

 

 

 ### David Johnston, Ph.D.

Betty Wold Johnson Foundation Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University



 

   ![johnston](/sites/g/files/omnuum4981/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-11/Johnston_Dave_02-scaled-1-aspect-ratio-1-1-300x300.jpg?itok=V0W9Q3Kp) 

 

 

 

 ### Marco Jost, Ph.D. 

Assistant Professor of Microbiology, Harvard Medical School



 

   ![jost ](/sites/g/files/omnuum4981/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-03/jost.jpg?itok=hkmaDlop) 

 

 

 

 ### Samantha Miranda, Ph.D.

Research Scientist, Broad Institute



 

   ![miranda](/sites/g/files/omnuum4981/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2025-11/Screenshot%202025-11-10%20at%202.13.54%E2%80%AFPM.png?itok=drgvpVvb) 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 



###    Staff  expand\_more  

 

 ### Lila Witt, Ph.D. 

Scientific Program Manager



 

   ![lila ](/sites/g/files/omnuum4981/files/styles/hwp_1_1__360x360_scale/public/2026-01/Screenshot%202025-07-28%20at%203.33.15%E2%80%AFPM.png?itok=sChNQLg8)