Dr. Laurence Rahme is a Professor of Surgery, Microbiology at Harvard Medical School. She is also a Senior Microbiologist and Director of the Molecular Surgical Laboratory at the Department of Surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she has served as a senior faculty member.
Dr. Rahme received her B.S. in Biology from the University of Naples, Italy, and earned her M.Sc. in Molecular Genetics Summa Cum Laude from the Institute of Genetics and Biophysics, CNR and University of Naples, Italy, and her Ph.D. in molecular host-microbe interactions from the University of California Berkeley, at Berkeley, CA. She conducted a post-doctoral fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Department of Molecular Biology and Harvard Medical School (HMS) Department of Genetics. Dr. Rahme is an elected Fellow of The American Academy of Microbiology and the Scientific Founder of Spero Therapeutics, and the MGH Research Scholar 2020 – 2025.
Dr. Rahme has a distinguished record of academic achievements. Her highly innovative basic and translational research has led to several breakthroughs and many patents focusing on developing alternative, novel strategies to combat bacterial infections caused by recalcitrant pathogens, prevent infections, and potentiate host defense. Her work is committed to the One Health approach that recognizes that people’s health is connected to the health of animals and the environment. She is the leading inventor of more than 15 patents and patent applications.
Her research is funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH), Department of Defense (DoD), Shriners Hospital for Children and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF), among others. She has trained more than 50 post-doctoral fellows, doctoral and medical fellows; most have advanced in their professional academic or clinical careers, and others are engaged in the industry. In addition, she has mentored and continues to mentor junior faculty, received nominations multiple years for The Mentoring Awards given from Harvard Medical School and MGH. In 2018 she received The John Potts, MD, Mentor with Distinction Recognition. She serves as a member of: The Standing Committee on Promotions, Reappointments, and Appointments, at Harvard Medical School, The Faculty Dean’s Award Committee, Harvard Medical School, The Joint Committee on the Status of Women, Harvard Medical School and served as a Co-Chair: Faculty Career Development Committee, Surgical Research Council, in the Department of Surgery, MGH. Moreover, Dr. Rahme is on the editorial board of several journals. She has served on NIH, NSF, DoD, DoD programmatic review panels and as a reviewer in several national and international foundations. She is also an editor and reviewer for many scientific journals.