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Biomedical Research Leadership
There are about 350 Howard
Hughes Medical Institute investigators, who continue to push the bounds of
knowledge in many of the hottest areas in biomedical research. Widely
recognized for their creativity and productivity, the current group of HHMI
investigators includes 14 Nobel Prize winners and 131 members of the National
Academy of Sciences.
HHMI urges its researchers to take risks, to explore unproven avenues, to embrace the unknown — even if it means uncertainty or the chance of failure. HHMI investigators have made many important research advances — from the discovery of genes related to cystic fibrosis, obesity, high blood pressure, colon cancer and other diseases, to new insights about memory, vision and olfaction.
By appointing scientists as Hughes investigators — rather than awarding research grants — HHMI is guided by the principle of "people, not projects." Since the early 1990s, investigators have been selected through rigorous national competitions. The Institute solicits applications from researchers at medical schools and other research institutions in the United States, with the aim of identifying researchers who have the potential to make significant contributions to science. Once selected, HHMI investigators continue to be based at their home institutions, typically leading a research group of 10-25 students, postdoctoral associates and technicians, but become Institute employees and are supported by field staff throughout the country.
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