Howard Hughes Medical Institute

MEDICAL RESEARCH ORGANIZATION ACTIVITIES (A) THE HHMI INVESTIGATOR PROGRAM (B) JANELIA RESEARCH CAMPUS (A) The HHMI Investigator Program The Howard Hughes Medical Institute's approach to biomedical research can be summarized in three words: people, not projects. By employing scientists as HHMI Investigators - rather than awarding research grants - the Institute provides long-term, flexible funding that enables its researchers to pursue their scientific interests wherever they lead. HHMI believes that scientists of exceptional talent and imagination will make fundamental discoveries of lasting scientific value and benefit to humanity if they are given the resources, time, and freedom to pursue challenging questions. HHMI Investigators receive a seven-year appointment, which is renewable pending favorable scientific review. The Institute nurtures the creativity and intellectual daring of scientists who are willing to set aside conventional wisdom or the "easy" question for a fundamental problem that may take many years to solve. Among the characteristics that distinguish this group of scientists are qualities such as creativity, a penchant for risk-taking, and a commitment to discovery, productivity, and perseverance. This unique research model is an imaginative and powerful alternative to funding biomedical research through grants. The HHMI Investigator Program employs more than 250 HHMI researchers, among them 14 Nobel laureates and more than 150 members of the National Academy of Sciences. HHMI Investigators direct Institute research laboratories on the campuses of 55 universities and other research organizations throughout the United States. Since the early 1990s, Investigators have been selected through rigorous national competitions. The Institute solicits applications directly from scientists at medical schools and other research institutions in the United States, with the aim of identifying those who have the potential to make significant contributions to science. HHMI employs an open application process to ensure that it is selecting its researchers from a broad and deep pool of scientific talent. In October 2019, the Institute announced that it is seeking to appoint approximately 20 new Investigators through a national open competition. HHMI anticipates selecting the new Investigators in Summer 2021. (B) Janelia Research Campus HHMI's Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia, helps open scientific fields by breaking through technical and intellectual barriers. At Janelia, integrated teams of lab scientists and tool-builders pursue a small number of scientific questions with potential for transformative impact. To drive science forward, methods, results, and tools are shared with the scientific community. In late 2017, Janelia moved to a 15-year research model. Under this new model, Janelia plans to develop a given research area for roughly 15 years to gain traction and attract outside interest, at which point it will cycle to a new area of focus. This approach enables Janelia to stay at the frontier of science, advancing one to three research areas at any point in time. Janelia's first research area is Mechanistic Cognitive Neuroscience. Janelia intends to announce its second research area in the next fiscal year. In January 2020, Ron Vale became Janelia's second Executive Director. Vale had been an HHMI investigator at the University of California, San Francisco. He succeeded Janelia's Founding Executive Director, Gerry Rubin, who remains at Janelia to continue his scientific work. In the current fiscal year, there were 36 group leaders, four fellows, and 11 senior fellows at Janelia, in addition to graduate students, other scientific trainees, and visiting scientists. Janelia also operates a vibrant scientific conference program, bringing many scientists to its campus each year for educational meetings.

SUPPORT FOR INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE 4c: Support for International Science International Research Scholars Program HHMI continues to support forty-one scientists from 16 countries who were selected in 2017 as International Research Scholars, exceptional early-career scientists poised to advance biomedical research across the globe. HHMI teamed up with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Wellcome Trust, and the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to develop scientific talent around the world, and with these partners awarded a total of over $29.3 million to this group of scholars. Each researcher receives a five-year award of $715,000, including indirect costs. The award is a major boost for scientists early in their careers and offers the freedom to pursue new research directions and creative projects that could develop into top-notch scientific programs. Africa Health Research Institute in South Africa In 2009, HHMI helped launch the KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for TB-HIV (K-RITH) in collaboration with the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) and has provided significant funding to support its research efforts. In 2016, in a move to improve the health of people locally and globally, K-RITH joined forces with the Africa Centre for Population Health to form a groundbreaking new interdisciplinary institute to fight tuberculosis (TB), HIV and related diseases. The new organization, the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI), is located at the heart of South Africa's TB and HIV co-epidemic in KwaZulu-Natal Province. The effort brings together the Africa Centre's detailed population data from over 100,000 participants, with K-RITH's expertise in basic science and its world-class laboratory facilities. HHMI, together with the Wellcome Trust, continues to provide grant support to AHRI, with the University College London and UKZN serving as significant academic partners. AHRI is committed to working towards the elimination of HIV and TB. To achieve this, the institute will bring together leading researchers from different fields, use cutting-edge science to improve people's health, and will help to train the next generation of African scientists.

Science education and research grant programs (a) science education grant and research programs (b) educational media group (c) tangled bank studios (d) hanna h gray fellows (e) faculty scholars (f) e-life open access journal (continued on schedule o)