HHMI Selects 15 Hanna Gray Fellows to Support Diversity in Science

CHEVY CHASE, Md., Sept. 19, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Howard Hughes Medical Institute today announced the selection of 15 exceptional early career scientists as the first group of HHMI Hanna Gray Fellows. These recent PhD recipients will continue their training as postdoctoral fellows at 11 institutions in the U.S. Their research interests span a range of disciplines, including chemical biology, computational biology, genetics, immunology, microbiology, neuroscience, structural biology, and systems biology.

Each fellow will receive up to $1.4 million in funding over eight years, with mentoring and active involvement within the HHMI community. In this two-phase program, fellows will be supported from early postdoctoral training through several years of a tenure-track faculty position.

"Being a Hanna Gray Fellow is going to provide me support through what can be quite a hard transition. From postdoctoral researcher, which I am right now, towards starting my own lab and actually becoming a principal investigator," said new fellow Yvette Fisher, a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard Medical School.

HHMI's Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program seeks to encourage talented early career scientists who have the potential to become leaders in academic research. In particular, this program aims to recruit and retain emerging scientists who are from gender, racial, ethnic, and other groups underrepresented in the life sciences, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds.

"I'm excited about this program because I think it will have a positive impact on science," said HHMI President Erin O'Shea. "We have so many challenges in keeping the best people from diverse groups in the professoriate. But I think this program can drive real change in academia and have a catalytic effect on the next generation of students."

The Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program represents HHMI's strong commitment to investing in early career scientists who are poised to make significant and important contributions to science in the years to come. This program will support these early career scientists at critical transitions in their academic careers. In keeping with HHMI's long-standing approach to support "people, not projects," fellows will have flexibility to change research focus and follow their curiosity during the duration of the award.

A competition for the next group of Hanna Gray Fellows opens immediately. With continued commitment to support and promote diversity in the life sciences, the Institute will again select up to 15 fellows investing a total of up to $25 million for their support over eight years. This grant competition is open to all eligible applicants, and no nomination is required. Grants in support of fellows will be awarded only to institutions within the U.S (including Puerto Rico).

The program is named for Hanna Holborn Gray, former chair of the HHMI Trustees and former president of the University of Chicago. Under Gray's leadership, HHMI developed initiatives that foster diversity in science education. HHMI continues to carry forward this work on college and university campuses across the U.S. "Hanna Gray is a remarkable person – a Renaissance historian and one of the first female presidents of a major research university," said O'Shea. "We thought it fitting to name this program after her because of her many years of service to HHMI and her prominence as a female leader in academia."

For a full list of 2017 Hanna H. Gray Fellows visit: www.hhmi.org/programs/hanna-h-gray-fellows-program.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute plays an important role in advancing scientific research and education in the United States. Its scientists, located across the country and around the world, have made important discoveries that advance both human health and our fundamental understanding of biology. The Institute also aims to transform science education into a creative, interdisciplinary endeavor that reflects the excitement of real research. HHMI's headquarters are located in Chevy Chase, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C.

SOURCE Howard Hughes Medical Institute

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