20 yrs ago, #HHMIInvestigator Helen Hobbs & collaborators ID'd gene mutations that lower “bad” cholesterol & heart disease risk — a groundbreaking discovery now powering a new cholesterol-lowering pill & genetic treatments aimed at combating the #1 cause of death in the US: bit.ly/4w0WasB

A tiny pill could beat the world’s biggest killer

Americans today are dramatically less likely to die of heart disease than they were just a few generations ago.

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Gaining therapeutic access to the human brain is one of the biggest unsolved problems in biomedical science. Today @nature.com, we uncover a massive influx of immune cells into the human brain during aging, revealing that the brain is more accessible than previously thought. 1/

For years the citrus mealybug was a mystery: essential genes seemed to be missing. Now #HHMIInvestigator John McCutcheon, #HannaGray Fellow Jessica Warren, & team have found them — tucked onto the mirror strand of DNA already carrying another gene. bit.ly/44sh3BH

Scientists long thought they knew what drives skin renewal — now #HHMIInvestigator Valentina Greco (@yaleschoolofmed.bsky.social) and collaborators have upended a 50-year-old assumption, and their findings could unlock new treatments for chronic wounds and aging skin: bit.ly/3SQXHU6

Thinking about applying to become a #FreemanHrabowski Scholar, #HannaGray Fellow, or #GilliamFellow? Our Science Programs team went live to cover key program details, elements of a strong application, & to take your questions. Watch the replay! bit.ly/4gS5DOM 🧪

Becoming an HHMI Scientist (for Potential Program Applicants)

HHMI's June 2026 live virtual event was a chance for early career scientists to learn more and ask questions about HHMI's upcoming competitions — the Freeman Hrabowski Scholars and Hanna H. Gray Fellows Programs (applications open Nov. 3, 2026), and the Gilliam Fellows Program (applications open Sept. 1, 2026) — which provide generous support to scientists from graduate training through the early faculty years. Featuring Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer Leslie Vosshall; Scientific Program Officers Josh Hall, Angela DePace, and Jose Faraldo-Gomez; and Senior Science Program Coordinator Adrielle Munger, the event covered everything from the details of each program to what HHMI looks for in candidates, and key elements of a strong application. Visit hhmi.org/programs to learn more, and stay connected via email (https://www.hhmi.org/newsletters) and social (below) for regular updates. _____ Follow HHMI https://www.instagram.com/hhmi_science/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/howard-hughes-medical-institute https://www.facebook.com/HowardHughesMed https://x.com/hhmi_science Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/hhmi-science.bsky.social

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"We have no business applying to this," #GilliamFellow Sara Makanani told her PI. Her mentor’s reply? "We are worthy of this." // 2nd- or 3rd-year PhD student? Talk to your faculty advisor — apps open 9/1 for our BIGGEST cohort of mentee-mentor pairs yet! bit.ly/gilliam26

This radiating honeycomb is the glass skeleton of a diatom, captured via confocal microscopy from marine sediment off Namibia's coast. Invisible to the naked eye, diatoms & other phytoplankton produce 20%–50% of Earth's oxygen every year. 📷: Igor Siwanowicz, Janelia Research Campus.

#FreemanHrabowski Scholar Bianca Jones Marlin is uncovering how sensory cues like a pup’s cry activate oxytocin & reshape neural circuits, enabling caregiving — even in mice that have never given birth. Her research also suggests some experiences may be biologically inherited: bit.ly/4pjJISL

Bone grows from the inside out, and this fluorescence micrograph of a developing mouse femur reveals the choreography underneath: osteoclasts (red) clear cartilage (purple) to make room for blood vessels (yellow), marrow, and new bone. 📸 Paul R. Odgren, @umasschan.bsky.social

Discoveries can hide in plain sight. #HHMIInvestigator Steven Henikoff's lab found a surprise when revisiting their old data: a region of ribosomal DNA producing microRNAs that can be associated with cancer, revealing a new role for part of the genome overlooked for decades: bit.ly/3RQwTmy.

Our kind of fireworks: fruit fly neurons stacked in a rapid succession of rainbow colors. This video shows a small sampling of the more than 135,000 neurons in a typical fruit fly's brain, imaged by researchers at our Janelia Research Campus using multicolor flipout technique 🎆

Proud to celebrate #HHMIInvestigator Rachel Green’s (@jhu.edu) election as an Associate Member to @embo.org — a lifelong honor recognizing research excellence & outstanding achievements in the life sciences: bit.ly/4aZ3Kfs.

Misfolded tau proteins spread between cells & form toxic clumps that drive Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, ALS & more. #HHMIInvestigator Roy Parker's team found a way to target them in real time, reducing their growth & improving brain function in mouse models: bit.ly/4aklodm.

Over a 32-year career as an #HHMIInvestigator, Connie Cepko (@harvardmed.bsky.social) helped transform how we understand the retina, and how blindness might be treated. Her advice? "If you have a novel idea you believe in, go for it." bit.ly/4gN9Zqp

These stunning single-celled organisms can shape-shift & regenerate. Their trumpet-like shape inspired their name: stentor, after the herald in Greek mythology known for his booming voice. 📸: Confocal microscopy by Igor Siwanowicz, HHMI’s Janelia Research Campus

100+ years after “Hechtian structures” were discovered, #HHMIInvestigator José Dinneny & co. have ID'd the purpose of tiny anchors that secure plant cell membranes to their walls — a finding that could help scientists improve crops' drought resistance: bit.ly/3Q7hVbh

Analyzing large datasets is one of the messiest, most complicated parts of lipid research. So #HHMIInvestigator Tobias Walther's lab @mskcancercenter.bsky.social built LipidCruncher: a free, open-source, step-by-step platform that makes results easier to reproduce & share: bit.ly/3QWca0o.

Could we reprogram the immune system to fight the effects of aging? #FreemanHrabowski Scholar Corina Amor Vegas & team engineered CAR-T cells to recognize & destroy "zombie cells" that accumulate during aging & drive inflammation, frailty, & metabolic decline: bit.ly/4xkeeQh

Northern lights < neurons firing across a mouse brain. Blue & red dots = synapses between neurons; green lines = sections of a pyramidal neuron. Captured by Boaz Mohar at our Janelia Research Campus using Z-stack scanning and lightsheet microscopy.

#HannaGray Fellow Marissa Scavuzzo grew up knowing basic biomedical science can change lives — now she studies support cells called glia. Her message to prospective HGF program applicants: "You have nothing to lose & everything to gain" (& sometimes, 2x is the charm). Opens 11/3! bit.ly/HGF26 🧪

Extraterrestrial invasion? As otherworldly as this looks, these are real organisms called desmids: microscopic, single-celled green algae found in swamps. Imaged with confocal microscopy — cell walls in blue, chloroplasts in red — by Igor Siwanowicz at our Janelia Research Campus

Serving others & caring for community are values #FreemanHrabowski Scholar Lucas Cheadle learned from his father, & they now inspire how he leads his lab @cshlnews.bsky.social. And the FHS program? "Not just about excellent science ... it's a community." Applications open 11/3! bit.ly/fhs26 🧪

One of the world's leading brain research centers is shifting away from fruit flies and toward a tiny, transparent fish. The goal: to understand how brains control the behavior of an animal or human. n.pr/4vV8dYM

Is a transparent fish the future of brain science? This center is betting on it

One of the world's leading brain research centers is shifting away from fruit flies and toward a tiny, transparent fish. The goal: to understand how brains control the behavior of an animal or human.

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Janelia is built for this moment. Starting today, we're taking on 2 big bets: cracking how a vertebrate brain generates behavior, & building AI-in-the-Loop Discovery — a new way of doing biology. Tiny transparent fish + one of neuroscience’s biggest questions? Let's go: hhmi.news/2BigBets

Celebrating #FreemanHrabowski Scholars Timothy Machado (@upenn.edu) & Kara Marshall (@bcmhouston.bsky.social ), recipients of the 2026 McKnight Scholar Award! The award recognizes exceptional early career scientists whose work is shaping the future of neuroscience: bit.ly/4xzUR5U.

#HHMIInvestigator Eric Betzig & team use a single microscope that does the work of a dozen, capturing life in 5D (3D + time + color). But the data it generates is too vast for humans to analyze alone, so they're building "a sherpa to guide us,” i.e. an AI to unlock MOSAIC's potential: bit.ly/3RN2GVj

Wheat, rice, & corn feed the world, yet we still don't fully understand their seeds' biology. #HHMIInvestigator Mary Gehring's lab has built a gene expression “map” of seed development in a plant model that could help improve crops’ ability to withstand environmental stress: bit.ly/4u1p62y.

Those tiny bumps on your tongue have a name: taste papillae, home to the taste buds behind every flavor you’ve experienced. Confocal microscopy paints a mouse's taste papillae in vivid color: pink taste buds, yellow nerves, & blue-green nuclei. 📸 Dany Gaillard & Linda Barlow, @cuanschutz.bsky.social

Directional elements: the preprints are out! 1/n Congratulations to our amazing team: biorxiv.org/content/10.6... biorxiv.org/content/10.6... biorxiv.org/content/10.6... We screened for principles governing global brain dynamics by developing a set of new methods: 1) conformal immersion microscopy;

Before the lab bench, there was the baseball diamond. #GilliamFellow @jpflores.rbind.io brings the resilience he learned as a former D3 shortstop to his research on how DNA's orientation helps cells adapt to stress. Psst: Applications for this year's Gilliam competition open 9/1! bit.ly/Gilliam26 🧪