The New Hughes Investigators

Community Author: KAREN YOUNG KREEGER, pp.6 Date: May 30,1994 As Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) officials had indicated several months ago, the final list of United States researchers selected as HHMI investigators reflects both an expansion of the institute's cadre of research institutions and its commitment to elevating the role of women and minorities in science. HHMI, which traditionally appoints fewer than 20 new investigators annually, named 44 of them this year. Scientists both inside and outside HHMI agree that this unusually large expansion portends a major boost for the field of biomedicine. Carlos J. Bustamante, professor of chemistry, University of Oregon, Eugene Michael R. Green, professor of molecular medicine, University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester Wimhelmus G.J. Hol, professor of biological structure, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle Judith Kimble, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, University of Wisconsin, Madison Sharon R. Long, professor of biological sciences, Stanford University, Calif. Douglas A. Melton, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. Paul L. Modrich, professor of biochemistry, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C. John J. Monaco, Jr., professor of molecular genetics, biochemistry, and microbiology, University of Cincinnati Medical Center Danny F. Reinburg, professor of biochemistry, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway Stuart L. Schreiber, professor of chemistry, Harvard University Peter G. Schultz, professor of chemistry, University of California, Berkeley Carla J. Shatz, professor of neurobiology, University of California, Berkeley Susan G. Amara, neuroscientist, Vollum Institute for Advanced Biomedical Research, Portland, Ore. Mark F. Bear, associate professor of neuroscience, Brown University School of Medicine, Providence, R.I. Robert E. Boswell, associate professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology, University of Colorado, Boulder Constance Cepko, associate professor of genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston Susan Ferro-Novick, associate professor of cellular biology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Conn. Paula J. Grabowski, associate professor of biological sciences, University of Pittsburgh Iva S. Greenwald, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, New York F. Ulrich Hartl, member, cellular biochemistry and biophysics program, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Institute, New York Nouria Hernandez, senior staff scientist in genetics, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, N.Y. James R. Priess, associate member, department of basic sciences, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle Tamar Schlick, associate professor of chemistry, New York University, N.Y. Gertrud M. Schupbach, associate professor of molecular biology, Princeton University, N.J. Thomas W. Sturgill, associate professor of internal medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville Michael F. Summers, associate professor of biochemistry, University of Maryland, Baltimore County Ronald D. Vale, associate professor of pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco Wayne M. Yokoyama, associate professor of medicine, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York Natalie G. Ahn, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, University of Colorado Tania A. Baker, assistant professor of biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge Brenda L. Bass, assistant professor of biochemistry, University of Utah Medical Center, Salt Lake City Linda Buck, assistant professor of neurobiology, Harvard Medical School Chris Q. Doe, assistant professor of cell and structural biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign William G. Dunphy, assistant professor of biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena Daniel E. Goldberg, assistant professor of molecular microbiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis. Kathleen L. Gould, assistant professor of cell biology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tenn. Tyler Jacks, assistant professor of biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Stephen L. Mayo, assistant professor of biology, California Institute of Technology Juanita L. Merchant, assistant professor of internal medicine and physiology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor Roy Parker, assistant professor of molecular and cellular biology, University of Arizona, Tucson M. Celeste Simon, assistant professor of medicine, and molecular genetics and cell biology, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine Ann M. Stock, assistant professor of biochemistry, UMDNJ- Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Marc Tessier-Lavigne, assistant professor of anatomy, University of California, San Francisco Cynthia Wolberger, assistant professor of biophysics and biophysical chemistry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore The Chevy Chase, Md.-based institute--the U.S.'s largest private philanthropy--announced in February that this round of nominations was evidence of a concerted effort to recruit more women and minorities (K.Y. Kreeger, The Scientist, April 4, 1994, page 3). The 44 new researchers and the 10 new institutions represented among them are being added to the existing Hughes network, currently consisting of 225 investigators at 53 U.S. universities and medical centers. HHMI appointed 16 researchers at the assistant level, 16 at the associate rank, and 12 full investigators (see list on page 7). The 10 new research facilities will have Hughes laboratories associated with them, accompanied by benefits such as HHMI-supported overhead and administrative staff. "A lot of great scientists are going to be supported with the ever-growing Hughes endowment," says Phillip A. Sharp, head of the biology department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, referring to an increase of $780 million in HHMI's endowment during 1993. Sharp adds that HHMI is making a difference in biomedicine by selecting strong leaders in the field and by providing them with additional resources, independence, and connections they may not have had had they not been appointed. Ann M. Stock, an assistant professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway, echoes the opinions expressed by many of the new investigators in saying that becoming a Hughes appointee will give her more leeway to pursue new research paths. Stock is among the 20 women nominees named by HHMI, which nearly doubles the current total of 25 female Hughes investigators. The six minority scientists appointed will triple the current number from three to nine. Noting the institute's philosophy of advancing the free- thinking aspects of scientific inquiry, Purnell Choppin, president of HHMI, says, "We tend to support individual careers rather than individual projects, so we are constantly moving into new areas of research." Hughes investigators perform basic research in five broad fields: cell biology and regulation, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, and structural biology. When accepting a position to become a Hughes investigator, scientists become employees of HHMI and receive full funding for salary, staff, and equipment in renewable terms of three, five, or seven years. While retaining their institutional appointments, investigators spend 75 percent of their time doing research and 25 percent devoted to activities such as teaching. Researchers also participate in HHMI-sponsored meetings that attract, the scientists say, leaders in biomedicine. A greater degree of autonomy is the primary benefit to being named a Hughes investigator, researchers say, but they also cite many other advantages. For example, M. Celeste Simon, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, says her Hughes appointment will make a "huge impact" on her career for two main reasons. First, it will give her "enormous freedom" to perform innovative experiments that she has occasionally been reluctant to do because of budget constraints. Simon is a geneticist who works on the mechanisms of normal development in an effort to understand abnormal development, such as in cancer-causing genes. She explains that in the past she has had to prioritize her "very expensive" research based on affordability. However, now she will be able to do research with "a potentially higher benefit-to-cost payoff," in terms of furthering basic biomedical knowledge and developing possible cures for human health problems. Stock, too, says that now she "will not be obligated to pursue any one research direction." She studies protein- protein interactions in signal transduction of bacterial chemotaxis and finds this independence beneficial because for her "the real thrill of science is stumbling on the unknown." Simon says that another benefit of HHMI affiliation of almost equal importance for her is the more frequent interaction she will get with leading colleagues in her field at Hughes-sponsored meetings and workshops. Carlos J. Bustamante, a biophysicist and member of the University of Oregon's Institute of Molecular Biology in Eugene, says that the appointment is "wonderful" in the sense of "pushing [his] research methods to new frontiers." His work entails using atomic-force microscopy, also called scanning-force microscopy, to visualize the structural aspects of cellular growth and differentiation, specifically with transcription complexes. Bustamante describes the approaches he uses as "somewhat off the mainstream," and therefore a risky investment for traditional funding agencies. He says that becoming a Hughes investigator "could not have come at a better time for my lab," because although he is reasonably well funded, "there were a number of routes that were the appropriate ones for us to take, but we had to let them pass because it was outside our financial capabilities." In addition to expanding into research areas that are perhaps a bit of a gamble, Juanita Merchant, an assistant professor in the department of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, says she will be able to take on longer-term projects and upgrade her research program. Merchant--who studies the regulation of gastrointestinal-tract cell growth and differentiation and its implications for gastric and colon cancers--says that, although she does have other funding, the appointment will allow her to hire more technical assistance, purchase state- of-the-art equipment, and attend more than one professional meeting a year. Appointed at the assistant level, Stephen Mayo, a structural biologist at the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, is in the midst of setting up a cutting-edge protein-design lab. At Caltech for less than two years, his group intends to develop computer programs to understand the relationship between protein structure and function. Mayo's team aims to get a better grasp of the relationship between the amino acid sequence of proteins and how they fold into complex, three-dimensional structures. The supplies and equipment he needs are "exceedingly expensive," according to Mayo. So, one of the major benefits for him is "the willingness of HHMI to fund labs that do this kind of work." With this, Mayo says, "We should be able to focus on actually trying to get things done as opposed to spending significant amounts of time writing grants." Sharp applauds HHMI's nomination process, noting that it has widened its scope to include more institutions than in previous solicitations. HHMI invited input from more than 200 major medical centers in this go-around. As a result of the expanded process, N. Maxwell Cowan, vice president and chief scientific officer at HHMI, says: "The overwhelming majority of those nominated are among the best scientists in their respective fields around the country." According to Cowan, the procedure was "scrupulously fair." The new investigators were chosen by a panel of eminent researchers in biomedicine, including three Nobel laureates and more than 20 members of the National Academy of Sciences. Each nominee was judged by someone in his or her field of expertise, and each was critically evaluated by three reviewers at two different stages.

The New Hughes Investigators

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