Harvard Impact Labs announces 2026-2027 Impact Lab Development Fellowship faculty cohort

Harvard Impact Labs has selected eight faculty from seven schools across Harvard University for the 2026-2027 Impact Lab Development Fellowship. The faculty were chosen through a competitive application process to participate in a nine-month fellowship providing them with training, coaching, and $25,000 in seed funding to develop collaborations with public and private leaders aimed at producing evidence-based, scalable solutions to social problems.  

Launched in spring 2025, Harvard Impact Labs is a University-wide initiative created to strengthen the capacity of Harvard faculty to design and scientifically test solutions to some of society’s biggest challenges. The initiative provides resources, training, and opportunities for faculty to work alongside leaders in government, nonprofits, and the private sector. 

The professors participating in this year’s Fellowship span fields from education, law, and political science to public health, medicine, and anthropology, and seek to develop solutions to problems as diverse as the high maternal mortality rates in the U.S., and the low U.S. voting and civic participation rates, to human rights laws not keeping up with technological changes in warfare. Several tackle problems created by rapid technological changes, with the goal of ensuring that technological developments improve lives rather than harm people and increase inequality.

The eight fellows, listed below, will participate in monthly workshops co-led by Danielle Allen, the James Bryant Conant University Professor and director of the Allen Lab for Democracy Renovation, and Jeffrey Liebman, the Robert W. Scrivner Professor of Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School and faculty co-director of Harvard Impact Labs. The workshop sessions will cover topics such as refining problem definitions, building partnerships, scaling, fundraising, and communications.  

“The selected faculty come from different disciplines but share a common desire to leverage their skills and expertise to solve pressing societal problems and improve lives,” said Liebman. “I was astonished by the concrete progress the first cohort of fellows made during the nine-month fellowship -- moving from early-stage concepts to exploring new research partnerships with government, nonprofit, and private-sector organizations, securing funding for their research, publishing op-eds, and launching pilots with organizations.”

“Each of these fellows is eager to learn from leaders outside of academia and work alongside them to develop and test solutions that match the scale of the problem,” said Allen. “The Fellowship provides them with the tools, coaching, and resources to accelerate the development of research partnerships with the potential to driven meaningful change.” 

The Impact Lab Development Fellowship participants include:  

Karen Brennan, Timothy E. Wirth Professor of Practice in Learning Technologies, Harvard Graduate School of Education

As generative AI increasingly becomes a primary tool for writing computer code, schools face new questions about how to preserve the creativity, problem-solving, and learner agency that make programming powerful for student learning. Without thoughtful integration into the classroom, AI could reduce learning and deepen educational inequities. Some students may engage with AI in ways that bypass the productive struggle through which learning occurs while others may lack access to AI tools. Professor Brennan will collaborate with K–12 teachers, students, school and government leaders, and others to develop and test approaches to using AI in computer science classrooms that enhance learning, creativity, and agency.

Melani Cammett, Clarence Dillon Professor of International Affairs, Department of Government, Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Efforts to improve relations among ethnic and religious groups after violent conflict have often focused on small-scale, person-to-person programs that struggle to produce durable change at scale. In looking for solutions, Professor Cammett’s research has explored the powerful role local and national elites play in promoting or thwarting reconciliation and cooperation among groups that have historically been in conflict. Through the Fellowship, Professor Cammett will work with peacebuilding organizations, policymakers, and civil society leaders to apply insights from her research to develop strategies that create incentives for influential actors to pursue shared interests that could create lasting improvements in intergroup relations in conflict-affected societies.

Susan H. Farbstein, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the International Human Rights Clinic, Harvard Law School

International law has not kept pace with technological changes in warfare, such as the increasing use of drones to attack, surveil, and control civilian populations. As a result, civilians harmed by remotely operated systems may lack meaningful legal protections, while perpetrators may evade accountability. Professor Farbstein is collaborating with international human rights organizations to develop legal frameworks to protect civilian populations and secure accountability when militaries use new technologies to violate international law. She will also explore strategies for the International Human Rights Clinic to further increase its impact across a range of practice areas.

Laura F. Garabedian, Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School

The United States has dramatically higher rates of maternal mortality and severe complications than other high-income countries, with particularly stark racial disparities. While many states have expanded insurance coverage and introduced new maternal health policies, there is limited research about whether these reforms are being implemented effectively or improving health outcomes. Working in Massachusetts, Professor Garabedian will partner with public and private insurers, state health agencies, hospitals, and practitioners to evaluate new maternal health policies—including coverage of doula services—and identify strategies that can significantly improve maternal health and reduce inequities.  

Erica Kenney, Associate Professor of Public Health Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Poor nutrition and food insecurity contribute to chronic disease, developmental challenges, and early mortality, yet the U.S. food system often makes unhealthy options more accessible and affordable than nutritious ones. Many proposed solutions focus narrowly on restricting certain foods or beverages, often only for certain groups of people, without addressing the broader economic, commercial, and community conditions that shape individual choices across the whole population. Professor Kenney will work with nonprofit organizations, public agencies, local food producers, and others to identify and evaluate strategies for building a food system that improves nutrition and health for all.

Matthew Lee, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Management, Harvard Kennedy School

Civic participation in the United States has declined over time, with voter turnout lagging behind rates in many other democracies. Efforts to strengthen democracy in the U.S. have largely overlooked the role of the workplace, which Professor Lee’s research suggests can meaningfully influence employees’ participation in civic life. For example, twenty-one states—including Arizona, California, New York, Oklahoma, and Texas—require employers to provide paid time off to vote, but awareness and implementation of these laws remain uneven, and workplace practices vary greatly. Professor Lee will collaborate with employer coalitions, businesses, and civic organizations to develop and test nonpartisan employer practices to make it easier for employees to exercise their civic rights.  

Jennifer Lerner, Thornton F. Bradshaw Professor of Public Policy, Management, and Decision Science, Harvard Kennedy School

Preventable harms such as heat illness and financial fraud threaten people’s health and financial security every year. To mitigate these harms, governments issue warnings and offer assistance programs to residents, but these efforts often do not fully account for how people respond to warnings, perceive risks, and decide whether to act. Professor Lerner will collaborate with state and local policymakers to develop and test communication strategies and policy solutions that help people respond effectively to serious risks while sustaining public trust.

Ryo Morimoto, Assistant Professor in Anthropology, Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences

Robots are increasingly being introduced into settings – in education, healthcare, public safety, and more - where they regularly interact with people. Yet technical priorities often drive how they are designed, with too little attention paid to the needs and concerns of the people who will interact with them. This disconnect can contribute to unsafe conditions, regulatory uncertainty, and fear or mistrust of technology. Professor Morimoto will collaborate with robotics companies, policymakers, and the public to develop “anthroengineering,” an approach that brings social, ethical, and cultural considerations into the design process from the outset so that robots are safer, more accountable, and more helpful to society.