Zachary Walsh Named 2026 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award Winner
Zachary Walsh, an MD-PhD candidate at Columbia University in the Vagelos Integrated Program in Biomedical Research Education (VIBRE), has been named a recipient of the 2026 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award from Fred Hutch Cancer Center. Established to honor the bold, creative, and pioneering spirit of the late Hal Weintraub, the annual award recognizes outstanding achievement during graduate studies in the biological sciences and celebrates not only scientific excellence, but also a deep commitment to mentorship and collaboration.
Walsh completed his PhD in the laboratory of Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center (HICCC) member Benjamin Izar, MD, PhD, where his research has focused on decoding how human genetic variation shapes immune cell behavior in both rare immune disorders and cancer.
Many patients with inherited immune disorders carry rare DNA changes classified as “variants of uncertain significance,” meaning it remains unclear whether those variants are harmful or benign. This uncertainty can delay diagnosis and limit access to effective, targeted therapies.
To overcome this barrier, Walsh developed scalable CRISPR base-editing platforms capable of engineering and functionally testing tens of thousands of human genetic variants directly in primary immune cells. By integrating precision genome editing with clinically relevant functional assays and computational modeling, his work enables researchers to determine which variants are pathogenic, which are benign, and how they mechanistically alter immune signaling pathways. This framework has already led to the molecular diagnosis and initiation of targeted therapy for a patient with a genetic immune disorder.
“The Weintraub Award is an incredible honor and a reflection of the incomparable mentorship and collaborative environment in the Izar group that have shaped my physician-scientist training,” says Walsh. “Many patients suffer and live with uncertainty because we can’t yet interpret and treat the genetic variants driving their disease. This recognition motivates me to continue developing approaches that translate genomic insight into faster diagnoses, improved therapies, and better outcomes for these patients.”
In parallel, Walsh has extended these genome-engineering approaches to cancer immunotherapy. Using the same platform, he has reprogrammed signaling pathways in T cell–based therapies, including CAR-T. In preclinical models, these strategies have enhanced anti-tumor activity of both CAR-T therapy for leukemia and TCR-based therapy for melanoma.
“The Weintraub Award is a prestigious and fitting recognition of Zach’s accomplishments and potential,” Izar says. “Zach has mastered the complexities of genome-engineering to solve long-standing questions at the interface of human genetics and immunology. Watching his work evolve from an ambitious idea to landmark studies has been a highlight of my time as a mentor. He is more than a brilliant researcher—he is a visionary scientist who is already shaping the future of genomic medicine.”
Rebecca Haeusler, director of graduate studies for cell and molecular biology in Columbia’s VIBRE, notes that the award is “an extraordinary distinction for a PhD student,” adding, “Zachary Walsh exemplifies the highest level of scientific excellence and accomplishment, and we anticipate that his current and future research contributions will have a long-lasting impact.”
Walsh’s work has been published in leading journals including Cell and Nature Biotechnology, and he was recently named the inaugural recipient of the Stanford Galli Prize in Pathology. He was also a Trainee Associate Member at the HICCC.