UMass Med professor named HHMI Investigator
University of Massachusetts Medical School professor Job Dekker has won a coveted scientific honor. He has been named a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator, the medical school’s seventh.
Dekker, co-director of the schools’ program in systems biology and professor of biochemistry and molecular pharmacology, is a pioneer in the study of the three-dimensional structure of the genome, the school said in a statement Tuesday.
“The Howard Hughes Medical Institute recognizes exceptionally creative thinkers and innovative scientists who are at the forefront of expanding the boundaries of scientific knowledge,” Chancellor Michael F. Collins said. “This award allows Dr. Dekker the freedom to pursue novel ideas that can fundamentally change our understanding of disease. All of us at UMMS are incredibly proud of what he has accomplished.”
Collins said the honor "is one of the most prestigious and sought-after scientific awards in the world."
The statement said Dekker developed the chromosome conformation technologies used to map the topography of the genome.
The Hughes institute “urges its researchers to take risks, explore unproven avenues, and embrace the unknown – even if it means uncertainty or the chance of failure,” according to its website. Researchers apply for the honor and are chosen through a competitive process.
Dekker, a member of the medical school faculty since 2003, was one of 26 scientists chosen from among 894 applicants, the UMass statement said. Over the next five years, HHMI has committed $153 million to support them, the statement said.
“It is a tremendous honor to be named among such an accomplished group of scientists,” Dekker said in the UMass statement. “Being an HHMI investigator provides us with the resources to pursue game-changing questions about how chromosome structure affects disease formation. With this support we’ll be able to investigate high-risk, high-reward research, such as the kind that led to the initial development of chromosome conformation capture technology.”
The HHMI website says 24 Nobel laureate and 182 members of the National Academy of Sciences are in its current group of HHMI investigators. UMass Medical professor Craig Mello, who won a Nobel in 2006, is an HHMI Investigator; as are UMMS professors Roger J. Davis, Marc R. Freeman, Michael R. Green, Melissa J. Moore and Phillip D. Zamore.
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