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  2. The 2018 HHMI Investigators
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The 2018 HHMI Investigators

  1. About the Program
  2. All Investigators
  3. 2018 Investigators Announcement

Meet our new HHMI investigators. They join a community of 300 scientists who are making dramatic advances in how we understand biology.

Among their work to date, they have revealed history from ancient DNA, improved life for children with metabolic diseases, and uncovered genetic secrets that could help fight the flu.

Here’s what drives these #HHMIInvestigators.

  • Benjamin Ebert

    Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

    Blood Diseases

    “I am motivated to tackle basic science questions that are relevant to human disease, and by the potential to develop novel therapies for patients.”

  • Beth Shapiro

    University of California, Santa Cruz

    Ancient DNA

    “What drives me is the abundance and diversity of life and the fear of running out of time. There is so much to learn. I want to be able to do it all.”

  • Beth Stevens

    Boston Children’s Hospital

    Neural-Immune Communication

    “We are working in an exciting time, as neuroimmunologists begin to realize how little we really know. The more we learn, the less we know.”

  • Clifford Brangwynne

    Princeton University

    Epigenetic Liquids

    “I like to do things differently and put things together in new ways. The possibility that what I do could have an impact on our understanding of the world is very attractive to me.”

  • Edward Boyden

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Synthetic Neurobiology

    “When I was a kid, I was obsessed with questions like, What’s the meaning of life? What’s happiness? What’s suffering? Eventually, I hope to help answer some of those questions through tools for understanding the brain.”

  • Elizabeth Sattely

    Stanford University

    Plant Metabolism

    “It’s amazing to me that plants produce hundreds of different molecules, and, in most cases, we have no idea what they do.”

  • Feng Zhang

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Engineering through Nature

    “I want to know how the world works and to be able to do something that’s useful for people.”

  • Gaby Maimon

    The Rockefeller University

    Integrative Brain Function

    “What drives me is developing a deeper understanding of the mind and animal and human behavior.”

  • Gia Voeltz

    University of Colorado Boulder

    Organelle Biogenesis

    “I love to see things that I’m not expecting, things that I don’t understand. I like to explore areas that are new to me even though it can be risky.”

  • Howard Chang

    Stanford University

    Gene Switches

    “I’m driven by the unexpected – the promise that there will be a unifying principle behind seemingly disparate facts.”

  • Jesse Bloom

    Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

    Virus Evolution

    “I find it fascinating to watch evolution and see the amazing things that can occur by incremental small changes, where, in the end, the whole seems greater than its parts.”

  • Luciano Marraffini

    The Rockefeller University

    CRISPR Immunity

    “I’m fascinated by how a cell works. And bacteria live by themselves, so they need to do everything. My curiosity is to find out how these little machines make life possible.”

  • Meng Wang

    Baylor College of Medicine

    Healthy Aging

    “I cannot see anything better than doing science. You come into the lab every day and don’t know what you are going to find – that is a thrill.”

  • Ralph DeBerardinis

    University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

    Metabolic Disorders

    “I’m driven to understand how our metabolic state influences disease, and whether we can reverse disease processes by changing our metabolism.”

  • Samara Reck-Peterson

    University of California, San Diego

    Intracellular Transport

    “Deciphering basic mechanisms in cell biology has led to many advances in medicine and agriculture. My curiosity to understand the mechanisms of intracellular transport is what drives me.”

  • Stephen Liberles

    Harvard Medical School

    Neural Sensory Systems

    “I’m drawn to things I don’t know. When I can’t find published answers, that’s where I get excited. That’s where research can lead to important discoveries.”

  • Thomas Bernhardt

    Harvard Medical School

    Bacterial Growth

    “I’m excited to study how bacteria grow their cell surface. How does a cell build itself? It’s an interesting mechanistic question with relevance to antibiotic development.”

  • Zachary Knight

    University of California, San Francisco

    Homeostatic Behaviors

    “I want to understand the connection between physiology and behavior – how the brain senses our internal state and then transforms this into motivation.”

  • Zachary Lippman

    Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

    Plant Flowering

    “I want to find out the unknown – the hidden side of questions that, in the moment, may feel like you’re the only one who cares about them.”

  • See All HHMI Investigators

    HHMI investigators are “trail blazers” who tackle difficult research questions that may take years to answer. Competitively selected, our investigators are HHMI employees, with funding for salary, lab staff, and equipment at their host institutions.

Find Out More

Image Credit: Irving Geis

About the Program

Image Credit: Irving Geis

All Investigators

Image Credit: Irving Geis

2018 Investigators Announcement

Image Credit: Irving Geis

About the Program

Image Credit: Irving Geis

All Investigators

Image Credit: Irving Geis

2018 Investigators Announcement
Science Forward
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