FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION:

Jennifer Donovan
(301) 215-8859
donovanj@hhmi.org
Cindy Fox Aisen
(317)843-2276
aisenc@hhmi.org
Howard Hughes
Medical Institute

(301) 215-8500

2006 New Professors
		Richard M. Amasino University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI
Richard Amasino has been growing plants ever since his mother let him plant his first seeds. He will use plant genetics to involve undergraduates in original experiments and to develop genetics-based teaching units for K-12 science. More
		Winston Anderson Howard University Washington, DC
Winston Anderson, a professor of biology at Howard University, plans to help undergraduates at the historically African-American institution develop skills that will give them a competitive edge for entrance into graduate and professional research careers in the biomedical sciences. More
		Bonnie Bartel Rice University Houston, TX
When she was an undergraduate at Bethel College, Bonnie Bartel was aware of only two things she could do with her biology degree—go to medical school or teach five college classes a semester. More
		Victor G. Corces The Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, MD
Victor Corces' philosophy is 'never too young.' His plan to expose Baltimore high school students to research as early as their freshman year is built on the belief that students need to hear from real scientists—early. More
		Catherine L. Drennan Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA
Catherine Drennan understands why some Massachusetts Institute of Technology students may sign up for her freshman chemistry class grudgingly and only because it is required. More
		Irving R. Epstein Brandeis University Waltham, MA
Chemist Irving Epstein will collaborate with the Posse Foundation to bring two 'science posses' to Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts—in addition to the 10 Posse Foundation students that already enter Brandeis each year. More
		Louis J. Guillette University of Florida Gainesville, FL
Spend a few minutes poking around Louis Guillette's personal web site, and you get the sense that he's quite at home in the swamp. More
		Leslie A. Leinwand University of Colorado at Boulder Boulder, CO
One day last year, a dejected cardiology research fellow in Leslie Leinwand's lab sought her out. He thought his experiment had failed. She showed him how to welcome unexpected results as an opportunity to move in a new direction. More
		Claudia M. Neuhauser University of Minnesota Minneapolis, MN
During her first winter on the faculty of the University of Minnesota (UMN) in 1997, Claudia Neuhauser taught a 10-week calculus course that she hated. More
		Diane K. O'Dowd University of California, Irvine Irvine, CA
Neurobiologist Diane O'Dowd began using interactive teaching in small classes at UC Irvine five years ago. Now she is incorporating active learning in an enormous introductory biology course. More
		Baldomero Olivera University of Utah Salt Lake City, UT
Growing up in the Philippines, Baldomero "Toto" Olivera recalls that cone snails were sold by the kilo in local seafood markets. He had no idea that the predatory snail would become the focus of his life's work. More
		Pavel Pevzner University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA
Did modern humans evolve from Neanderthals? How can clinicians distinguish between types of leukemia? Although starkly different, both questions can be tackled with the specialized computational tools of bioinformatics. More
		Jasper Rine University of California, Berkeley Berkeley, CA
You won't find it on his CV, but in addition to his achievements in genetics and genomics research and his teaching awards, Jasper Rine inspired an eponymous, now-defunct punk-rock band that had a mercifully short run in the late 1990s. More
		Robert L. Sah University of California-San Diego La Jolla, CA
If scientists could create real knees and hips from scratch, millions of aging seniors suffering from osteoarthritis might remain healthier and more active into their sunset years. More
		Scott A. Strobel Yale University New Haven, CT
In Scott Strobel's opinion, one of the biggest challenges in traditional scientific training is what he calls "the problem of ownership." More
		David R. Walt Tufts University Medford, MA
Ten years ago, a student working in David Walt's chemistry lab at Tufts University conducted a frustrating experiment to create an array of pointed optical fibers for use as a new surface scanning method. More
		Susan Wessler University of Georgia Athens, GA
University of Georgia geneticist Susan Wessler's research focuses on understanding the "nuts and bolts" of evolution, yet her part of the country is a hotbed of anti-evolutionist activity. More
		Jennifer West Rice University Houston, TX
When Jennifer West explains her research, it is impossible to tell where the biologist ends and the engineer begins. More
		Huntington F. Willard Duke University Durham, NC
As an undergraduate student at Harvard 30 years ago, Huntington Willard received two rare gifts—two and a half years working in Sam Latt's research lab and the opportunity to delve into research literature in a class with Sarah Elgin, now an HHMI professor at Washington University in St. Louis. More
		Richard N. Zare Stanford University Stanford, CA
For Richard Zare, part of chemistry's first allure was its forbidden nature. More
Continuing Professors
		Utpal Banerjee University of California-Los Angeles Los Angeles, CA Photo: Joe Toreno A high-resolution photograph is available on request. Request a photo
As a researcher in the fields of Drosophila genetics and developmental biology, Utpal Banerjee is currently studying signal transduction and transcriptional control of neural and hematopoietic development. More
		Sarah C.R. Elgin Washington University in St. Louis St. Louis, MO Photo: Joe Angeles/WUSTL A high-resolution photograph is available on request.