Hello =D
It is very nice to e-meet you! My name is Novalia (Nova) Pishesha and I am an Assistant Professor in the Division of Immunology, Boston Children's Hospital and the Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School. I started my lab in January 2024 and I am super pumped to lead an interdisciplinary team of scientists and engineers to advance the understanding and application of immune engineering to combat pathogenic immunity and infectious diseases.
Education and Experience
I was born and raised in Singosari, a regency in East Java, Indonesia. After completing high school there, I began my studies at City College of San Francisco (CCSF) and subsequently transferred to the University of California at Berkeley. Supported by a Regents' and Chancellor's scholarship, I completed my B.S. in Bioengineering and was awarded the Bioengineering Departmental Citation Award. My academic journey continued at MIT, where I earned a PhD in Biological Engineering in 2018 under the mentorship of Prof. Harvey Lodish and Prof. Hidde Ploegh at the Whitehead Institute and the Boston Children's Hospital, respectively. My PhD thesis research revolved around the engineering of red blood cells for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, hyperlipidemia, and the development of biodefense strategies against lethal toxins. Following my PhD, I was elected a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows, continuing my research under Hidde and also training with Prof. Aviv Regev and Prof. Sangeeta Bhatia at the Broad Institute and Koch Institute, respectively. My work has since focused on developing a platform based on alpaca-derived single-domain antibody fragments (nanobodies) for creating new therapeutics aimed at immune modulation, particularly for treating various autoimmune diseases and improving vaccine efficacy. Based on these works, I was awarded the 2021 MIT Technology Review Innovators Under 35 for the Asia Pacific region and was listed in the 2021 Boston Globe’s STAT+ Wunderkinds. In 2022, leveraging this technology, alongside Harvey and Hidde, I co-founded and served as founding CEO of a biotech startup company, Cerberus Therapeutics. I am currently a recipient of the National Multiple Sclerosis Foundation Career Transition Award.
My experiences (both bitter and sweet) as a woman in science, a first-generation college student, an immigrant, and an international scholar from a developing country have taught me the importance of fostering intercultural understanding and channeling it into both learning and meaningful mentoring. Throughout my education and career, I have had the privilege of encountering exceptional mentors, colleagues, and trainees. I am committed to paying this forward, aspiring to contribute to the scientific community worlwide by mentoring the next generation of researchers.
Outside the Lab
When not in the lab, I retreat to my Boston haven where chaos reigns supreme orchestrated by my two border collie accomplices, Freyja and Tyr, who believe in a strict daily regimen of zoomies, cuddles, and plotting world domination. My husband and I love to cook, with a penchant for culinary adventures that often end in delicious mishaps. Our specialty? Indonesian cuisine. Why, you ask? Because Massachusetts made the audacious decision to exist without an Indonesian restaurant, and we couldn't just stand by. We've taken it upon ourselves to fill this egregious gap, one rendang at a time. Our home has become the unofficial Indonesian embassy of flavors, where we love feeding anyone brave enough to navigate through our pups' toy minefield to reach the dining table. So, if you're ever in Boston and crave a taste of Indonesia or want to witness a live reenactment of a border collie circus, you know who to call. Just be sure to bring a dog toy and an appetite!
