Liberles Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
Liberles Elected to the National Academy of Sciences
May 1, 2026
The Food Allergy Science Initiative (FASI) is proud to congratulate Stephen D. Liberles, Ph.D., on his election to the National Academy of Sciences. This recognition is one of the highest honors a scientist can receive.
As a FASI principal investigator, Dr. Liberles’s work is centered on understanding allergen-sensing pathways in the gut by investigating the role of enteric neurons and the gut-brain axis in allergic disease.
His team is developing a genetic toolbox for studying and controlling enteroendocrine cells — a critical step toward understanding how the immune system detects and reacts to allergens at the molecular level.
Dr. Liberles is a professor of cell biology at Harvard Medical School and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator. He was among seven Harvard Medical School faculty elected to the Academy in 2026. The newly elected members are recognized for distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.
Breakthroughs at the Intersection of Neuroscience and Allergy
Dr. Liberles’s research focuses on the molecular neuroscience of sensory systems — in particular, how the body communicates with the brain through the vagus nerve and how those pathways influence physiological responses, including allergic disease. His lab has made landmark advances in understanding vagus nerve cell types, identifying non-classical families of olfactory receptors, and revealing molecular mechanisms underlying sensation within internal organs.
A Valued Member Advancing the Mission
Dr. Liberles has been an integral part of advancing FASI’s scientific mission since joining as a principal investigator in 2020. He brings a distinctive lens of molecular neuroscience to the study of food allergies. His work on neuroimmune crosstalk — exploring how allergens activate the immune system differently from infection — exemplifies the kind of boundary-pushing research that FASI encourages and supports.
FASI celebrates this well-deserved recognition and looks forward to the continued impact of Dr. Liberles’s groundbreaking work on the food allergy field and beyond.
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Food Allergy Science Initiative
About the Food Allergy Science Initiative (FASI)
The Food Allergy Science Initiative (FASI) is a nonprofit research accelerator dedicated to transforming the understanding and treatment of food allergies. By uniting leading scientists, clinicians, and innovators across disciplines—from immunology and neurobiology to microbiology and bioengineering—FASI drives high-impact discoveries that aim to deliver real-world therapies for patients. FASI funds and coordinates a collaborative research network anchored at top institutions, including several Harvard-affiliated hospitals. Committed to end-to-end science, FASI supports work from the bench to the clinic to solve one of medicine’s most urgent challenges. Learn more at foodallergyscience.org.