The Howard Hughes Medical Institute in Chevy Chase, Maryland, has announced grants totaling at least $300 million in support of thirty-three investigators who are tackling some of the most challenging problems in biomedical research.

Each 2021 HHMI Investigator will receive roughly $9 million over a seven-year term, which is renewable pending a successful scientific review. Selected from more than eight hundred applicants and representing twenty-one U.S. institutions, the investigators include Kafui Dzirasa (Duke University), a psychiatrist examining the role of brain electricity in mental health disorders; John McCutcheon (Arizona State University), a scientist probing how bacteria can become permanent fixtures inside host cells, and Kristy Red-Horse (Stanford University), a biologist on a mission to heal diseased hearts.

"HHMI is committed to giving outstanding biomedical scientists the time, resources, and freedom they need to explore uncharted scientific territory," said HHMI president Erin O'Shea. "By employing scientists as HHMI Investigators, rather than awarding them research grants, she said, the institute is guided by the principle of "people, not projects."

"We encourage investigators to follow new directions, learn new methods, and think in new ways," said HHMI vice president and chief scientific officer David Clapham. "This could lead to scientific breakthroughs that benefit humanity."

For a complete list of 2021 HHMI Investigators, see the HHMI website.