#  Rebecca Ward 

Lecturer on Systems Biology, Executive Director, Department of Systems Biology, HMS

 

 

 



   ![Rebecca Ward is wearing a bright green cardigan, black shirt, and beaded green necklace. Her glasses frames are also bright green.](/sites/g/files/omnuum11411/files/styles/hwp_4_5__480x600/public/2026-05/100.Rebecca-Ward-Questions.jpg?h=47ed6290&itok=Lb-trrC9) 

 



 





 

**What inspires or motivates you in your role at HMS/HSDM?**  
In two words, fantastic colleagues. It is a privilege to work with our faculty and to contribute what I can to their success. It's just as much of a privilege to work as a team with intelligent, hard-working people who share this motivation. When you have this kind of working environment, work is what you want to do all day, not just 9-5. (Except in summer, when I want to work in my garden too.)

**What unique skills and/or talents do you bring to your job?**  
I was originally trained as a biochemist and immunologist, then worked in scientific publishing and biotech for many years. One of my roles in publishing was to start new scientific journals, so l got very good at learning new scientific areas quickly.  
This has been invaluable! One of the things you know for sure about science is that it isn't going to stand still. At different times in my journal life I had responsibility for papers on immunology, virology, structural biology, chemical biology, and even, for a brief and unhappy period, paleontology. Together with the writing skills | learnt in publishing, this breadth of scientific familiarity (I wouldn't call it expertise) allows me to help many different types of researchers to write grants and papers. Another piece of experience that has been really helpful was the project management skills I learnt in biotech. "Matrix management", as it's called, is all about making progress when you don't have the power to simply tell people what to do - I think many people working in academia can relate to that.



 

 

 



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- ## Person Categories
    
     [Dimensions](/person-categories/dimensions)
- ## Institution
    
     [Harvard Medical School](/institution/harvard-medical-school)