PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Ryan Flynn

Also known as Ryan A. Flynn

Ryan Flynn is a chemical biologist at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard who studies RNA on the cell surface and used Google DeepMind's AI Co-Scientist in a 2026 ALS research collaboration. A biology graduate of MIT, they completed an M.D. and Ph.D. at Stanford in 2017 and, as a postdoctoral fellow in Carolyn Bertozzi's lab, reported glycoRNAs, small RNAs coated with sugars, in a 2021 Cell paper. After starting an independent lab at Boston Children's Hospital in 2021, they received an NIH Director's Transformative Research Award in 2024 and the Glycobiology Significant Achievement Award in 2025. In May 2026, Google DeepMind described how Co-Scientist helped Ritu Raman of MIT and Flynn combine tissue models with RNA biology in a search for RNA-based approaches to ALS. They are an Associate Professor in the Stem Cell Program at Boston Children's Hospital and in Harvard's Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology.

Now at
Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard University
Works
128
Citations
21,656
h-index
50

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 22 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 2010–2017

    MIT and a Stanford MD/PhD

    They graduate from MIT in 2010 with a B.S. in biology, where they first learn RNA biology deeply under Phil Sharp's mentorship. They complete an M.D. and Ph.D. in cancer biology in Stanford's Medical Science Training Program in 2017, mentored by Howard Chang.

  2. 2017–2021

    Postdoc with Carolyn Bertozzi

    Trained in RNA biology, they join Carolyn Bertozzi's glycoscience lab at Stanford as a postdoc in 2017. In 2021, they move to Harvard to establish an independent laboratory in the Stem Cell Program at Boston Children's Hospital.

  3. 2021

    The glycoRNA discovery

    With Bertozzi, they publish "Small RNAs are modified with N-glycans and displayed on the surface of living cells" in Cell in 2021. The paper reports glycoRNAs, small noncoding RNAs coated with N-glycans and found on the cell surface.

  4. August 2024

    How RNA attaches to glycans

    In August 2024, Cell publishes work from their lab that identifies the mechanism by which RNA is chemically linked to N-glycans, with the modified base acp3U as an attachment site. The work shows that glycoconjugates fall into three classes: proteins, lipids and RNAs.

  5. 2024

    An NIH Transformative Research Award

    In 2024, they receive an NIH Director's Transformative Research Award to explore how RNA and RNA-binding proteins function on the surface of cells.

  6. 2025

    Glycobiology Significant Achievement Award

    In 2025, they win the Glycobiology Significant Achievement Award.

  7. May 2026

    Co-Scientist and ALS research

    In May 2026, Google DeepMind describes how Co-Scientist, its multi-agent AI partner for research, helped MIT's Ritu Raman test ALS evidence against her tissue model and rank research directions. The system's strongest leads concerned communication at the cell surface, so Raman brings them to Flynn, a chemical biologist who maps RNA on the surface of cells, and the pair use Co-Scientist iteratively to search for RNA-based mechanisms and potential RNA-based drugs against ALS. DeepMind's Co-Scientist announcement also thanks them among its research collaborators.

  8. As of October 2026

    Associate Professor at Harvard

    They are an Associate Professor in the Stem Cell Program at Boston Children's Hospital and in the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology at Harvard, and principal faculty at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. Their lab, established in 2021, studies RNA glycosylation and cell surface RNA-binding proteins, including how cell surface RNAs regulate signalling by the growth factor VEGF-A165.

Career

  1. Since 2021Boston Children's HospitalAssociate Professor
  2. Since 2021Harvard UniversityAssociate Professor
  3. 2017–2021Stanford UniversityPostdoctoral fellow

Education

  1. 2010Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyB.S. in biology

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. A unique chromatin signature uncovers early developmental enhancers in humans2010 · Nature · 2,229 citations
  2. A long noncoding RNA maintains active chromatin to coordinate homeotic gene expression2011 · Nature · 1,976 citations
  3. c-Myc Regulates Transcriptional Pause Release2010 · Cell · 1,274 citations
  4. m6A RNA Modification Controls Cell Fate Transition in Mammalian Embryonic Stem Cells2014 · Cell stem cell · 1,272 citations
  5. HiChIP: efficient and sensitive analysis of protein-directed genome architecture2016 · Nature Methods · 1,126 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 21 October 2026.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes Harvard University. We estimate where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led. Massachusetts Institute of Technology leads with 467 former students, including 291 recorded doctorates.
  2. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes Harvard University. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  3. Companies supply the most prior-work hires at 7 of the 9 frontier AI labsIncludes Harvard University. Our estimates of the organizations where 550 people worked directly before joining 9 frontier AI labs across 620 career transitions, comparing the main feeder organizations per lab.
  4. 44% of AI career moves go from one university to anotherIncludes Harvard University. We estimate how 26,439 AI career moves link universities, companies, labs, nonprofits and government research centers, with decade counts, net flows and the top paths.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Ryan Flynn, M.D., Ph.D. | HSCRB hscrb.harvard.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  2. Ryan Flynn | Boston Children's Research research.childrenshospital.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  3. Some RNA Molecules Have Unexpected Sugar Coating | HHMI hhmi.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  4. Discovery of sugar-coated RNA molecules opens up new area of cell biology | HSCRB hscrb.harvard.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  5. Unveiling GlycoRNA: New Study Proves They Do Exist | HSCRB hscrb.harvard.edu. Checked 20 October 2026.
  6. Environmental Factor - November 2024: NIH awards High Risk, High Reward research grants niehs.nih.gov. Checked 20 October 2026.
  7. Past Sig Achievement Award Winners glycobiology.org. Checked 20 October 2026.
  8. Co-Scientist: Driving creative collaboration to accelerate ALS research — Google DeepMind deepmind.google. Checked 20 October 2026.
  9. Co-Scientist: A multi-agent AI partner to accelerate research — Google DeepMind deepmind.google. Checked 20 October 2026.
  10. Flynn Lab – BCH rafrna.com. Checked 20 October 2026.