only affects eating behavior, but it also prevents that drop in energy expenditure that normally accompanies weight loss. “We’re looking at the efficacy and safety of sustained oxytocin administration as a weight loss therapy and the underlying mechanisms. How does oxytocin affect energy metabolism and fat distribution? How does it affect the neural pathways and eating behavior.” ARFID, the focus of the third current study, includes kids and young adults who restrict their food intake not because of body image or weight concerns, but because they have are highly selective eaters. “It’s picky eating to the point where it’s really impairing,” she says. She notes that the effects might include being underweight, having vitamin deficiencies or managing social consequences (e.g., they might avoid parties because of the food). “This is an understudied disorder. We are looking at the neurobiology—the hormones, brain circuitry, psychology and behavior— and how an individual’s neurobiological profile influences their eating behavior over the course of two years.” Lawson says part of what she loves about her job is that it’s interdisciplinary. She works closely with psychologists and neuroimaging experts from the Department of Psychiatry at MGH. Together, they integrate hormone, brain imaging, neuropsychological, and behavioral data to better understand the pathophysiology of eating disorders with the goal of identifying treatment targets. “My work is like a team sport. I love coming up with ideas and the interdisciplinary collaboration and designing studies that allow us to to answer those questions and get closer to treatments,” she says. If one of those potential treatments includes a viable answer to the obesity epidemic, then Lawson will have gone from a college history buff to a history maker. —HEATHER SULLIVAN
KEN MORSE ’64 Chairman and CEO, Entrepreneurship Ventures Boston, MA
Morse Code
WHEN KEN MORSE ’64 DECIDED TO GO TO MIT after his Nobles graduation, “it was not at all mainstream,” he says. “I was only the third in Nobles history.” After earning a bachelor of science in political science in 1968, Morse went on to lead six technologybased start-ups. As he often says, “Five either went public or were successfully merged; one was a complete disaster.” That disaster taught him the foundational lessons for his ensuing career. Morse tells the story: “Our CEO was a total techie. He didn’t love customers, and they could tell. If you are in a company where the CEO is not customer-focused,” Morse warns, “either get them out or you get out, because it will fail. “It’s not enough to invent breakthrough technology. The job isn’t finished until it has been evangelized, usually in a commercial setting, to become a global standard.” This experience inspired him to begin Entrepreneurship Ventures in 2002, aiming to help entrepreneurs refine their technology, create their teams, and, most important, sell their ideas to the global market. Morse focuses his efforts on start-up companies in Québec, Spain, Scotland, Turkey, the Middle East and Pakistan. His parents took him on a trip around the world as a child, and he says, “My drive to build global businesses finds its roots in that voyage of discovery, as well as in Nobles and MIT French classes.” A geography competition he took part in as a Sixie taught him the world’s countries and capitals, which still proves useful in his current international work. His senior year American History class taught him “about the nature of our form of democracy and how to win elections,” leading to his successful run as class president at MIT. His Oral English class and his involvement in the debate club top the list of formative Nobles experiences: “It taught me how to think and defend my position logically.” What advice would he give to budding entrepreneurs wandering Nobles’ halls today? “I do not recommend starting a company right out of school,” he says. “It’s better to work for a well-managed company and learn how to get stuff done in the real world. When you do finally decide to take the plunge, make sure you have a team of equally experienced people. Get advisors with gray hair, or no hair, who have been there and done it before.” And, most important, he says, “Listen to them.” —AS WINTER 2018 Nobles 39