More than 30 Nobel laureates have emerged from HHMI, and this world-renowned medical institute was founded by a pilot

Guide

"People, Not Projects.

This is the purpose
of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) in selecting funders.

On the homepage of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), there is a striking sentence - "We promote biomedical research and science education for the benefit of mankind
.

In fact, HHMI is the world's largest private non-profit medical research foundation, funding thought leaders and pioneers at the forefront of science in various fields related to basic medicine, supporting their free exploration out of curiosity and intuition, as well as enduring research on scientific problems
.

It is worth mentioning that those who have been or are being supported by the HHMI Investigator Program include more than 30 Nobel laureates and 180 members of the National Academy of Sciences, but HHMI's predecessor is an aircraft company, and its founder is a pilot
.

With an excellent management team and strong financial resources, HHMI has gradually come to the center of the world's biomedical field, how did it grow up, and what kind of enlightenment does it have for the "New Cornerstone Researcher Project" that is emerging in China's scientific community?

01

Heavily fund early scientists, looking at people instead of looking at projects

At the end of August, HHMI announced that it had selected 25 outstanding early career scientists as Hanna Gray Fellows for 2022, all of whom were talented postdoctoral scientists
.

The program is named after Hanna Holborn Gray, a former chair of the HHMI Board of Trustees and a former president
of the University of Chicago.

Through this program and related efforts, HHMI also hopes to recruit and retain those glittering potential stocks from groups that are currently underrepresented in the life sciences field, and to increase the diversity of the
biomedical sciences by creating an inclusive environment in which all scientists can thrive.

To date, HHMI has invested more than $142 million in this project, with up to $1.

This is in line with the HHMI's spirit of "supporting people, not supporting projects," where researchers are free to follow their curiosity, study the most important scientific issues, and even change the direction of research according to their needs during the
grant period.

02

History of the establishment and development of HHMI

HHMI is an American nonprofit medical research organization based in Chevrolet Chase, Maryland, founded by Howard R.

Hughes was an American business tycoon, investor, record pilot, engineer, film director and philanthropist, and during his lifetime known as one of
the world's most successful financial figures.

The Howard Hughes diagram of 1947 is from the official website of HHMI

As for how HHMI was established? In the late 1940s, the prototype of the HHMI was to fuse a small group of doctors and scientists to advise
pilot Hughes.

In late 1953, Hughes founded the Institute of Medicine named after him and decided to fund
its work through the profits of the Hughes Aircraft Company.

Hughes's decision will have a huge impact on
research in the biomedical field.

Chartered Trustees include Hannah M.

In 1985, the trustees made a key decision to sell the Institute's only asset, the Hughes Aircraft Company, to support biomedical research to create a more flexible endowment
.
In the course of the sale of the company, the trustees reaffirmed the institute's status as a medical research organization (MRO) and therefore refused to convert it into a private foundation
.

Trustee of HHMI

By 1984, HHMI scientists were focused on four areas of study: cell biology, genetics, immunology, and neuroscience, and by 1986, a fifth area had been added—structural biology
.

For the first three decades, the institute forged partnerships with researchers that have so far proven productive
.
Hughes researchers employed by the institute can conduct research in laboratories at universities, hospitals, and research institutions, and allow researchers to collide ideas and do research "out of the blue" to make an impact
throughout the biomedical sciences.

The funds from the sale of Hughes Aircraft became the net worth of the Institute, which in turn determined the amount
that HHMI had to spend on research each year.

The above two events were crucial for the early HHMI, which laid the foundation
for an extraordinary period of growth and change for HHMI.
In addition, HHMI decided to make a significant investment in structural biology to help provide initial funding for sequencing the human genome and created a separate grant program
.

Over the past 30 years, the Institute has established two development directions
in the fields of biomedical research and science education.

Among them, HHMI's biomedical research includes six main projects, namely the HHMI Investigator Program, the Freeman Hrabowski Scholars Program, the Hanna H.
Gray Fellows Program, and the Janelia Research Park Research Campus), Faculty Scholars Program, and International Programs, the most notable of which is the HHMI Researcher Program
.

03

How does the HHMI Investigator Program work?

The HHMI Investigator Program is one of the Institute's most distinctive efforts, supporting researchers known for their scientific discoveries, innovations, and advancing knowledge boundaries in biomedical research
.

HHMI scientists are working on challenging topics including HIV, cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes, with the ultimate goal of improving people's lives around the
world.
With the support of HHMI, scientists hope to fundamentally change the understanding of cells, brains, immune systems, organ development, and the causes of
human diseases.

HHMI researchers are doing research in the laboratory The picture is from the official website of HHMI

Currently, the HHMI Investigator Program has partnered with more than 60 of America's preeminent universities, hospitals, institutes, and medical schools to create a flexible, long-term support research environment for more than 250 scientists and their research teams each year to help them solve profound scientific problems
.

How does the HHMI Investigator Program work? First of all, through regular competitions, eligible scientists are invited to apply
.
In general, in the recruitment of HHMI Investigators, although the specific criteria for each competition may vary, there are generally the following requirements:

1.
Applicants must hold a PhD and/or a Doctor of Medicine degree
.

2.
Applicants must plan to conduct research
at one of more than 200 eligible U.
S.
institutions.

3.
Applicants must hold positions that represent substantial commitments to their institution, such as tenure-track faculty positions
.

4.
Applicants must have a good track record
of peer-reviewed funding.

5.
Each competition determines the post-training professional experience
required by the scholar before applying.

6.
Each race defines the breadth
of scientific disciplines that HHMI has to consider.

Application Procedure for Applicants:

1.
The applicant applies directly; There is no nomination process and there is no limit to the number of applications from a single institution;

2.
The application requirements include 5 highlighted research articles, abstracts of major research contributions, and descriptions of research focused on ongoing and planned;

3.
The selection of researchers is carried out by the HHMI scientific leadership and is based on the assessment of a panel of distinguished scientists, including members of the HHMI Advisory Committee;

The above requirements do not seem to be high, but when it comes to the application process, it can be said that there are many masters, and the probability of being selected is extremely low
.

In fact, in 2006, HHMI also opened the Janelia Research Park, which allows outstanding scientists to pursue long-term, high-risk, but high-reward research in specially designed campuses, such as discovering the basic rules and mechanisms of brain information processing systems, and developing optical, biological and computational techniques for creating and interpreting biological images
.

04

HHMI's unique funding model and academic ecology

Decades of precipitation, huge and complex system, strong financial strength.
.
.
HHMI is committed to building four core priorities, including discovery science; Diversity, equity and inclusion; There are four aspects
of public participation and building a healthy academic ecosystem.

The first and most important aspect is Discovery Science
.

HHMI makes a big "bet" on good scientists – giving them a wealth of resources and giving them the autonomy to decide what
to learn.
They believe that this unusual choice of "people, not projects" is the surest way for scientists to
acquire new knowledge.
HHMI scientists open the door
to new scientific discoveries, treatments and a better future.

What HHMI is doing in the direction of discovery science is divided into the following two points:

1.
Improve HHMI's research support to provide scientists with the best opportunity for future breakthroughs

According to the official website, "the term of office of HHMI researchers has been increased from five years to seven years, and the research budget
of researchers has been standardized.
" To work on the kind of rigorous, open-ended research that HHMI expects, the scientists we fund need generous, flexible, and long-term support
.
We continuously monitor the research environment in which scientists find ourselves so that we can identify and respond to their needs
.
”

2.
Ensure the innovation capabilities of HHMI's Janelia Research Park

The HHMI Shift supports up to three main research areas simultaneously, each for a period of 15 years
.
The institute provided conditions for Janelia experimenters, theorists, and tool makers to collaborate in a focused research style to catalyze progress
in a field of research.
In order to maintain the agility of creation, HHMI has developed a program for regular turnovers
in the main research areas.

When it comes to innovation, HHMI wants to expand into new areas – such as mechanical cognitive neuroscience
.
This is what HHMI scientists are exploring recently, refocusing on neurobiological procedures to explore questions
about how the brain achieves cognition.

In addition to this, HHMI has developed a diverse, equitable and inclusive research environment
.

For more than 30 years, HHMI has supported underrepresented but talented students with backgrounds through science education programs
.
HHMI is also placing a growing emphasis on scientific experience – equity and inclusion, which enables students and scientists from diverse backgrounds to thrive
.
They do this by taking concrete steps to achieve more consistent and effective guidance, and they are expanding their efforts with a view to impacting the entire career
of academic scientists.

In fact, HHMI is also striving to build a healthy academic ecosystem
.
According to the official website of HHMI, "We are promoting a scientific culture and system that emphasizes high-quality work, open discussion and guidance, rather than publishing works or the number of
published works in selected journals.
" "At the same time, HHMI is changing the way science is shared
.
As of January 2022, the HHMI policy requires all HHMI lab leaders to publish articles
in a manner that makes their research articles available free of charge on publication dates under the Creative Commons attribution license.

05

HHMI's operating mechanism and strong financial resources

The HHMI leadership system includes trustees, senior leadership, medical advisory committees, scientific review committees, and scientific officers
.

The Trustees are responsible for guiding HHMI researchers in advancing basic scientific knowledge for the benefit of humanity
.
The senior leadership team oversees the planning and operations of HHMI, including strategy and day-to-day management
.

The Medical Advisory Council, which advises HHMI on scientific projects, includes accomplished scientists and leaders
of biomedical research institutions.
Members of the Board of Directors will participate in the HHMI review process, including the review
of HHMI research project candidates and reappointed researchers.

The Scientific Review Committee participates in the review of candidates for research projects and reappointed researchers
.
Board members include accomplished scientists who together represent the broad scope of the biomedical field in which HHMI researchers work
.

Every year, HHMI spends a huge amount of money on scientific research projects, where does this money come from? With a combined diversified net worth of $27.
1 billion by the end of fiscal 2021, the Institute is one of the world's largest private supporters of
basic biomedical research and science education.

Over the past five years, the institute has provided approximately $4 billion in support
of research and science education under Generally Accepted Accounting Standards (GAAP).

Net assets for the 2017-2021 fiscal year

Fees for 2017 to 2021

On the one hand, it benefited from its rich funds, on the other hand, it also benefited from HHMI's well-established management system and excellent leadership team
.
Over the past few decades, HHMI has developed healthily under the leadership of Chopin (1987-1999) and others, and has gradually come to its current status
.

On May 1, 2022, the New Cornerstone Researcher Project was officially released, which is a project that strictly follows the principle of "scientist-led", and the mechanism of selecting unlimited projects allows people to see the figure of
HHMI at once.
In fact, in the eyes of many scientists, the New Cornerstone Researcher is regarded as the "Chinese version of the HHMI" program
.

The project set up a scientific committee as the decision-making body for talent selection, and Shi Yigong, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and president of Westlake University, served as the chairman of
the first scientific committee.
Professor Xie Xiaoliang of Peking University, Pan Jianwei, executive vice president of the University of Science and Technology of China, and Zhang Jie, director of the Li Zhengdao Research Institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, all serve as members of the Scientific Committee
.

As the financial supporter of the project, Tencent will invest 10 billion yuan in the next 10 years for the project, and will explore a sustainable operation model to support basic research
for a long time.

Whether it is HHMI or the New Cornerstone Researcher Project, the most fundamental purpose is to support creative scientists, to fund them to carry out exploratory and risky basic research, hoping that they will ask important scientific questions, break new frontiers in the discipline, and promote original breakthroughs
.

HHMI is quite prestigious in the field of biomedical sciences around the world, and I hope that the "Chinese version" of the HHMI program that China is trying to build will also be successful
.

Resources

1.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute | HHMI

2.
Howard Hughes Medical Institute - Wikipedia

3.
Notice on Application for the New Cornerstone Researcher Program - University of Science and Technology of China (ustc.
edu.
cn)

4.
New Cornerstone Researcher Project | New Cornerstone Investigator Program