Janelia Group Leader Jiefu Li (right) and his team are uncovering how the blood-brain barrier functions.
Scientists just discovered new "controllers" of the brain's most elite security checkpoint. Jiefu Li & team at our Janelia Research Campus have ID'd proteins that help open & close the blood-brain barrier — a step toward treating Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, & more: hhmi.news/4mkrDT2.
The kind of stable, sustained support that can transform a career: Our #FreemanHrabowski Scholars Program offers early career faculty up to $10M over 10 years, plus salary & benefits. Postdoc? This year's competition has a program for you, too. Applications open 11/3! bit.ly/4tFKifj
HHMI Investigator Stuart Orkin 2026 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences
Celebrating #HHMIInvestigator Stuart Orkin, honored with the Breakthrough Prize for revolutionary research that's led to new treatments for sickle cell disease & other blood disorders, changing the lives of millions. He shares the prize with Swee Lay Thein of the NIH: hhmi.news/3Ql1LL1.
HHMI Investigators Michael Rosen (L) and Eric Gouaux (R) and collaborators Rosana Collepardo-Guevar (L) and Magdalena Schneider (R) examine a cryo-electron microscope at our Janelia Research Campus, a key tool in developing AI-powered imaging inside cells.
#HHMIInvestigators Eric Gouaux & Michael Rosen are using AI to turn a powerful cellular imaging tool into a molecular detective, revealing hidden molecular details in cryo-ET images to better understand how cellular structures work, & how they may malfunction: bit.ly/47Q5u9v.
Stunning new landmark study from #HHMIInvestigator David Reich & team @harvardmed.bsky.social lets us watch human evolution in real time across 10,000 years, & what ~16,000 ancient genomes reveal is striking: Natural selection didn't stop when civilization began — it sped up: bit.ly/4ep7uJI.
Current Gilliam Fellow Denethi Wijegunawardana pictured with Investigator & former HHMI President Tom Cech.
“Being a #GilliamFellow has been the most life-changing experience of my career. The impact goes far beyond funding." A powerful letter to this year's potential applicants, from current Fellow Denethi Wijegunawardana. Read the full text on our Instagram, & bookmark 9/1 to apply! bit.ly/4sDHjlS
Scientific publishing needs to change. HHMI President Erin O'Shea and Bodo Stern argue that the incentives are misaligned. Researchers should be evaluated on what they choose to share, not what journals select. Proud that HHMI @hhmi-science.bsky.social is leading the way. Pre-Print: bit.ly/4sDCCsu
Educators gather around a table during an HHMI BioInteractive teacher training workshop, examining a hands-on science activity with materials in a tray.
Rural science educators are among the most resourceful teachers in the country—& they deserve world-class support. Proud to announce a new partnership between the National Rural Education Association & HHMI's BioInteractive to bring free resources to rural educators across the US: hhmi.news/4cpco6U
What if injectable “mini livers” could help sustain people w/liver failure? New research from #HHMIInvestigator Sangeeta Bhatia’s lab @mit.edu showed success in an animal model — pointing to potential new therapies for 1000s of people who may not receive or be eligible for transplants bit.ly/3NGwMIp
30 seconds of life as a #GilliamFellow, thanks to the 19 cohort members who attended our March Science Meeting alongside ~70 additional HHMI scientists. Potential applicant? Imagine yourself here, and mark Sept. 1 on your calendar to apply!
Mapping how neurons connect across the brain is one of neuroscience’s biggest challenges. MouseLight (a Janelia Research Campus project) is building a dataset of fully traced neurons — available to researchers everywhere, & helping to reveal how brain circuits work & what goes wrong in disease.
Interior of a glass greenhouse at Mount Holyoke College, photographed by HHMI Investigator Zachary Lippman. A lush central display table features a carpet of bright green grass flanked by purple and white pansies, with tiered rows of blooming spring flowers receding toward the far end — including white and yellow daffodils, pink and white hyacinths, orange and red tulips, and silvery ornamental foliage. Natural light streams through the glass roof panels, illuminating the vibrant, densely planted floral arrangement. Orange daffodils are visible in the foreground corners.
A long-standing mystery, resolved — & it could help fight drought & food scarcity. #HHMIInvestigator Zachary Lippman & colleagues uncovered ancient plant DNA (some ~400M+ yrs old) & ID'd 2.3M “genetic switches” across 284 species, offering a stunning new lens on the evolution of life: bit.ly/47QjgZq
Graphic with green gradient circles on a light background reads: “5 HHMI Investigators honored as 2025 AAAS Fellows.”
Celebrating five (yes, 5!) #HHMIInvestigators named to the '25 class of @aaas.org Fellows — a distinction recognizing those work advances science & its impact on society. Please join us in congratulating David Baker, Michael Laub, Christopher Lima, David Pagliarini, & Gabriel Victora: bit.ly/4sAt81M
A woman sitting at a round table smiles while talking with a colleague, with an open laptop in front of her in a modern office setting.
Rare opportunity to lead AI adoption at HHMI! The Claude Enablement Lead will work across our organization to support teams, scientists, and labs while building standards, training, and real-world use cases: bit.ly/4dejsWf. 🧪
Get lost in the unexpected beauty of a developing zebrafish eye. These incredible 3D images are possible thanks to #HHMIInvestigator & Janelia Sr. Fellow Eric Betzig, who developed a microscopy technique combining two imaging approaches — including one used by astronomers.
A tiny mouse lemur with large, yellow eyes peeks out of a hole in a tree against a green forest canopy.
"Patience, curiosity, strategy, & help from a very cute friend." By investigating a heart rhythm disorder in mouse lemurs — Earth’s tiniest primate — #HHMIInvestigator Mark Krasnow uncovered the unexpected role magnesium plays in human heart health and disease: hhmi.news/3P9d9sP.
Huda Zoghbi in her lab in Houston talking with another researcher
New work from #HHMIInvestigator Huda Zoghbi & colleagues points to a promising new treatment strategy for Rett syndrome, a rare disorder that affects brain development in infants & children, primarily girls: bit.ly/3Np4Ng9.
@bcmhouston.bsky.social | Texas Children’s Hospital
Fluorescent dyes at the Lavis Lab at Janelia Research Campus
Beautiful, & built for discovery. These next-gen fluorescent dyes (developed by the Lavis Lab at our Janelia Research Campus) are brighter, more photostable, & more versatile — advancing how scientists visualize biology inside cells.
3 people gathered around a poster presentation at Janelia's Research Campus
No-cost workshop opportunities for grad students, postdocs, & trainees! Our Janelia Research Campus is accepting applications for 3 specialized, intensive workshops with presentation & networking opportunities. Accommodations, meals, & travel expenses covered: bit.ly/4roghP6. 🧪
This image shows the spatial distribution of spinal cord cell types. Credit: The Meltzer Lab
Millions live w/ chronic pain & little relief. #HannaGray Fellow @shanmeltzer.bsky.social & team's new map of the spinal cord — built cell-by-cell — provides insights into how pain-signals travel, & will be openly available to the science community to help speed new pain treatments hhmi.news/4u1eIsJ
Nancy Lurie Marks Prize for Autism Research Huda Y. Zoghbi HHMI Investigator Baylor College of Medicine
Celebrating #HHMIInvestigator Huda Zoghbi, recognized by the Lurie Autism Institute for her ground-breaking discovery that mutations in the MECP2 gene cause Rett syndrome (an autism-related neurodevelopmental disorder) — work that continues to transform autism research today: bit.ly/4sFhNx6.
A smiling, outdoor headshot of Corina Amor Vegas, whose team is engineering immune cells to target damaged, aging cells in the body to better understand their role in neurodegeneration
A smiling headshot of Marissa Scavuzzo, who's investigating how enteric glia — key cells in the gut’s nervous system — help keep the body’s metabolism and inflammation in balance, and why this may break down in neurodegenerative diseases.
Congrats to #FreemanHrabowski Scholar Corina Amor Vegas & #HannaGray Fellow Marissa Scavuzzo, both among this year's MIND Prize winners! Recognizing early-to-mid-career scientists, the award honors those with innovative ideas that advance neurodegeneration research: bit.ly/46VrlMh.
Second- or third-year PhD student in biological or biomedical sciences? Get ready — applications for our #GilliamFellows Program open Sept. 1! Robust research support, incredible scientific community, & tailored professional development that can transform a PhD journey. 🧪 bit.ly/4bjdTmr
Lab-grown pancreatic tissue with a mesh-like electronic network (red). Cells within the tissue produce insulin (green), the blood-sugar-lowering hormone lost in Type 1 diabetes. Courtesy of Juan Alvarez.
A new electronic implant system created by #FreemanHrabowski Scholar @juanalvarezdom.bsky.social & colleagues helps lab-grown pancreatic cells mature & function properly, providing a potential new pathway to replace pancreatic tissue damaged by diabetes: bit.ly/4b16OHn.
The Brain Prize 2026 David Ginty HHMI Investigator Harvard Medical School
Thrilled to see #HHMIInvestigator — & now 2026 @brainprize.org winner — David Ginty recognized by The Lundbeck Foundation for his pioneering work on the cellular architecture of touch & pain, which paved the way for a new generation of targeted pain therapies: bit.ly/4sbowiN.
No rabbits, no top hats — just #GilliamFellow Axel Vera leveling up on the standard poster session with a little sleight of hand. We guarantee you've never heard an anti-CRISPR (used to help control & improve precision gene editing) explainer like this before, & it's ... magic 🪄.
Here, UCLA researchers Courtney Young, Melissa Spencer & April Pyle have used a CRISPR-Cas9-based therapy to repair a patient's DMD gene & restore the missing protein (green).
Muscle fibers with a CRISPR-Cas9-based therapy to repair a patient's DMD gene & restore the missing protein (green).
These colorful muscle fibers tell a beautiful story of repair, & point to a potential approach to treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy — a rare, debilitating, & fatal disease. In DMD, a protein that helps muscle cells stay strong is missing.
Blood cells circulating in the head of a fruit fly.
Face of a fruit fly that helped #HHMIInvestigator Amita Sehgal and team uncover how sleep acts as a critical "cellular housekeeper," keeping our neurons healthy (and so much more) — findings that could drive a better understanding of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s: bit.ly/3ZKNFnK.
Gilliam Fellow attendees at the HHMI February 2026 Science Meeting
Calling all #GilliamFellows! 👋 Stay connected with the latest Gilliam program updates, stories, & community news — and contribute your highlights. Sign up by March 2 to get the first issue! hhmi.news/4u4W7MH
