The Howard Hughes Medical Institute -- HHMI -- has announced that four Yale scientists are among the 70 scientists selected in a national competition to become HHMI investigators. The appointments bring the number of HHMI investigators at Yale to 21.
The Yale researchers are Jennifer Anne Doudna, assistant professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry; G. Shirleen Roeder, biology professor; Dr. Gerald I. Shulman, associate professor of medicine, endocrine, and of cellular and molecular physiology at the School of Medicine; and Tian Xu, assistant professor of genetics, also at the medical school.
"These outstanding scientists are being invited to join one of the most creative and productive groups of researchers in the world," says Dr. Purnell W. Choppin, president of the HHMI, which is the largest philanthropic organization in the United States. "Their selection was the result of an intensely competitive process and is a tribute to their ability and promise as research scientists."
Hughes investigators conduct biomedical research in five areas: cell biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience and structural biology. In recent years, they have made significant discoveries related to obesity, AIDS, cancer, diabetes, hypertension, cardiac arrhythmias, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy and many other medical problems.
HHMI, which was founded in 1953 and is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, enters into long-term research agreements with universities and other academic research organizations, where its investigators hold faculty appointments. HHMI investigators conduct their scientific research in institute laboratories located on the various campuses.