The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is a nonprofit medical research organization that ranks as one of the nation’s largest
philanthropies. HHMI plays a prominent role in advancing biomedical research and science education in the United States.
Founded in 1953 by aviator and industrialist Howard R. Hughes, HHMI is headquartered in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and employs more than 3,000
individuals across the U.S. HHMI has an endowment of $16.1 billion of which the Institute spent $825 million for research and distributed $80
million in grant support for science education in fiscal year 2011.
How We Advance Science
HHMI Investigators
HHMI’s flagship program, approximately 330 HHMI investigators can be found in HHMI labs at nearly 70 U.S. universities, research institutes,
medical schools, and affiliated hospitals. These labs employ nearly 700 postdocs and provide training opportunities for more than 1,000
graduate students each year.
Collaborative Innovation Awards
Launched in 2008, this four-year pilot program enables selected HHMI investigators to join with scientists outside HHMI to undertake projects
that are new and so large in scope that they require a team covering a range of fields. Eight projects support research by 33 scientists from
15 institutions in the U.S and one in Chile.
Early Career Scientists
In 2009, HHMI identified 50 of the nation’s most promising scientists to receive support at a critical early stage of their careers. HHMI
funding over a six-year appointment provides them with the freedom to pursue their boldest research ideas without having to worry about
obtaining grants to fund those experiments.
Grants for Science Education
The HHMI's grants fuse teaching and research, and reflect HHMI’s commitment to educating a new generation of scientists. HHMI funds
undergraduate and graduate education initiatives that engage students in discovery research.
HHMI-GBMF Investigators
The HHMI-GBMF investigators―some of the nation's most innovative plant scientists―conduct research on a variety of plants, such as wheat,
maize, tomato, Arabidopsis, moss, and algae.
International TB/HIV Initiative
In 2009, HHMI partnered with the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa, to establish an international research center―the
KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV (K-RITH). K-RITH's focus is to make scientific contributions to the worldwide effort
to control the devastating coepidemic of tuberculosis and HIV and to train a new cadre of scientists in Africa.
To learn more about, K-RITH visit www.k-rith.org.
International Early Career Scientist Program
This program selected 28 early career scientists and awarded them $650,000 over five years with the goal of helping them establish independent
research programs.
Janelia Farm Research Campus
Opened in 2006, the Janelia Farm Research Campus in Ashburn, Virginia further extends HHMI’s commitment to research. The initial focus of
Janelia is:
identification of general principles that govern how information is processed by neuronal circuits, and
development of imaging technologies and computational methods for image analysis.