Development: 1954-1983

In February, Mr. Hughes announces the creation of his nonprofit charitable institution to “provide millions of dollars for medical research to combat disease and human suffering.” In February he meets with Dr. Mason, Herman Weiskotten, M.D., and George Thorn, M.D., of Harvard University to discuss plans for the Institute; Dr. Hugh Morgan is in Europe at this time. The four are appointed members of a new Medical Advisory Board, with Dr. Mason as chairman.

Miami is selected as the new site for the Institute. Kenneth Wright, who later becomes the Institute's first administrator, joins the staff.

George Thorn, M.D. is appointed director of research. Robert J. Boucek, M.D., at the University of Miami School of Medicine begins conducting research under HHMI auspices. Among his first studies is an examination of connective tissue, its changes with age, and the relationship of those changes to atherosclerosis. At the Yale University School of Medicine, Robert A. Nelson, Jr., M.D., also begins working under the auspices of HHMI.

George Thorn, M.D. is appointed director of research and continues to serve on the Medical Advisory Board. To aid the Medical Advisory Board, HHMI forms a Scientific Advisory Committee that includes George P. Berry, M.D., dean, Harvard Medical School; Lee A. DuBridge, Ph.D., president, California Institute of Technology; and Stafford L. Warren, M.D., dean, School of Medicine, University of California at Los Angeles.

By now, the Institute is conducting research at eight different academic medical centers: Harvard University, Yale University, Vanderbilt University, the University of Miami, the University of Washington, the Johns Hopkins University, the University of Southern California, and the University of Michigan. There are 47 HHMI investigators, with units ranging from a single scientist to six scientists and supporting staff. Research is under way in biochemistry, cardiac surgery, crystallography, endocrinology, immunology, microbiology, organ transplantation, physiology, and other fields.

HHMI establishes laboratories of microbiology in Miami for Dr. Robert Nelson and his staff. Emphasizing immunology, Dr. Nelson's team continues to study the mechanism of antibody production and the properties of complement, a blood plasma component. The concept of independent laboratories, however, soon will shift to one of collaboration between HHMI and academic medical centers, where Institute-employed scientists who are members of the faculty conduct research in jointly supported laboratories and clinics.

The Tax Reform Act affirms HHMI's tax-free status as a medical research organization (MRO).

Mr. Hughes dies of chronic kidney disease on April 5 aboard a plane en route from Acapulco to Boston, which makes an emergency landing in Houston.

Stimulated by the Institute's Executive Committee, whose members are Frank William Gay, a long-time associate of Mr. Hughes, and Chester Davis, Mr. Hughes's lawyer, the Medical Advisory Board begins to redefine and expand the research program. It will focus on genetics, immunology, and metabolic regulation, emphasizing the new techniques of molecular biology. To date, the Institute has provided $63 million for medical research.

The Institute's available funds are growing rapidly, from $4 million in 1975 to $15 million in 1978. The Institute's staff numbers 310, including 140 scientists, 132 technicians, and 38 administrative employees, located at headquarters and in academic medical centers in 12 U.S. cities. HHMI laboratories also house more than 200 non-Institute visiting scientists, trainees, and support staff. A 12-acre estate is purchased in Coconut Grove, Florida, as an administrative headquarters and a scientific conference center.

The Scientific Advisory Committee is reconstituted to become the Scientific Review Board. Selected for expertise in HHMI's research areas, the SRB begins an active role in setting goals and reviewing scientific progress. Dr. Thorn becomes a member of the Executive Committee, and George F. Cahill, Jr., M.D., a former HHMI investigator at Harvard University, is named director of research.

Dr. Thorn becomes president. Dr. Thorn received his M.D. from the University of Buffalo in 1929. During his long career, he has conducted research in physiology at the University of Buffalo, taught medicine at The Johns Hopkins University and Harvard University, and served for many years as physician-in-chief of Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston. He has received many prestigious awards and holds honorary doctorates from several universities. Since the early 1950s, Dr. Thorn has served HHMI in several capacities: director of research, chairman of the Medical Advisory Board, member of the Executive Committee, president, and chairman of the Trustees. Dr. Thorn most recently served as chairman emeritus of the Trustees and professor emeritus at Harvard. He died in 2004 at the age of 98.

The scientific advisors, recognizing that the application of new techniques to the study of the nervous system promises rapid advancement in the understanding of mental, neurologic, and sensory disorders, begin recruitment for a neurosciences program. Committees are established on the use of human subjects, animals, and hazardous materials in research.

Entering its fourth decade, the Institute is concentrating its research efforts in four areas: genetics, immunology, metabolic regulation (later to be called cell biology) and neuroscience.