Chemistry's Abhishek Chatterjee receives Breakthrough Science Initiative Award

Professor of Chemistry Abhishek Chatterjee has received a 2026 Ono Pharma Foundation Breakthrough Science Initiative Award, which includes $1 million to support his research project "RNA Switches for Controlling Gene Therapies in Mammalian Cells."

The prestigious award program supports chemical biology research with the potential to transform human health and make a significant impact on the treatment of disease, according to the foundation. The award provides $1,035,000 across three years, including $300,000 per year for Chatterjee’s laboratory plus an additional 15 percent per year in associated costs.

"We are thankful to the Ono Pharma Foundation for this honor and for supporting our ambitious project,” said Chatterjee. “Also, this is not just an individual accomplishment, but a testament to the thriving research ecosystem at Boston College."

The Ono Initiative awards are among the most selective in the field: the foundation invites two nominations each from 66 leading universities and confers only three awards each year. Chatterjee joins this year's two other recipients, Harvard University’s Emily Balskus and University of Texas’s Brian Belardi. 

Chatterjee said the award will fund his work to overcome a central limitation of today's gene and cell therapies. Once administered, these therapies express their therapeutic genes at a fixed level that cannot afterward be modulated. That lack of control can compromise both safety and effectiveness, Chatterjee said.

The Chatterjee Lab is developing genetic switches, built entirely from RNA, that would let the activity of a gene therapy be turned up or down in a patient using an approved small-molecule drug. These switches will be compatible with the leading therapeutic formats, including AAV gene therapy, mRNA, and CAR-T cell therapy, and will significantly enhance their safety and efficacy.

The purpose of the Ono Initiative is to support scientists who have developed creative ideas in selected scientific research fields with the mission of seeking discoveries and solutions and the development of high-impact science, according to the foundation.