Lee and Deborah Gehrke appointed Quincy House co-masters

Lee and Deborah Gehrke, who served as acting House co-masters of Quincy House during the 2006-07 academic year, have been appointed Quincy House co-masters.

Lee Gehrke is professor of microbiology and molecular genetics at Harvard Medical School and the Hermann von Helmholtz Professor and associate director of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology. He has been affiliated with both Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1982, teaching courses in virology, cell biology, embryology, and human functional anatomy. He has served as a freshman, medical, and premedical student adviser and has received numerous teaching and mentoring awards.

Lee’s research uses molecular biology, biochemistry, and structural biology to understand how cells sense viruses and respond to infection. His laboratory studies virus-host cell interactions and RNA-protein interactions that underlie emerging infectious diseases of humans, including dengue fever virus, West Nile virus, and hepatitis C virus.

Prior to serving as acting co-master of Quincy House in the 2006-07 year, Deborah Gehrke divided her time among directing a preschool program for the town of Framingham, Mass., raising her family, and studying at the Danforth Museum School. Her watercolors and oil paintings have won awards in juried art shows, and she is especially pleased that the Quincy House pottery studio reopened last spring for the House community.

The Gehrkes’ immediate goals for Quincy House are to implement the House-based advising program, to continue developing a cohesive tutorial staff, and to build House community through House-sponsored activities.

“We are eager to involve the Quincy community in planning for the future, and we are thrilled to have the opportunity to return to Quincy House,” said Lee Gehrke.