Two researchers from NYU School of Medicine have been named Early Career Scientists by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). The honorees, Iannis Aifantis, Ph.D. associate professor of pathology, co-director of the Cancer Stem Cell Program at the NYU Cancer Institute and Jeremy S. Dasen Ph.D., assistant professor of physiology and neuroscience at NYU School of Medicine are among 50 of the nation's top scientists being honored by HHMI under this new initiative to establish, develop and grow unique research programs.
Dr. Aifantis, a cancer biologist investigating T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia, a common form of leukemia in children and Dr. Dasen, a neuroscientist investigating the molecular code that helps developing motor neurons in the spinal cord connect with the muscles they control, will both receive a six-year appointment to the HHMI and funding to further explore their areas of research. HHMI will provide each NYU researcher with his full salary, benefits, and a research budget of $1.5 million over six-years.
"The entire NYU Langone Medical Center community is proud of the groundbreaking work being conducted by Dr. Aifantis and Dr. Dasen and we congratulate them on their selection as HHMI Early Career Scientists," said Robert I. Grossman, M.D., Dean and CEO of NYU Langone Medical Center. "These awards are recognition of the immense talent of these two scientists and the importance of the work that they are pursuing."
Dr. Aifantis has made majors strides towards understanding and developing new treatments for T-cell acute lymphocytic leukemia. He recently discovered a molecular door by which T cells, the soldiers of the immune system, slip into spinal fluid and the brain after they become malignant. Blocking this process could save thousands of lives each year. Aifantis is now testing hundreds of potential drugs that might prevent malignant T cells from reaching the nervous system. At the same time, he is learning what goes awry in blood stem cells that transform into leukemic T cells. Such insights may provide even more ways to combat deadly blood cancers.
Dr. Dasen's research focuses on deciphering the molecular code that helps developing motor neurons in the spinal cord connect with the muscles they control. Understanding this code, which relies on a large family of genes that produce proteins called Hox factors, may help scientists restore motor neuron function in people whose spinal cords have been damaged by trauma or disease. Dasen, has found that Hox proteins are not just present in motor neurons; they are pervasive throughout the nervous system. He plans to explore whether Hox proteins in interneurons and sensory neurons, which control motor neuron firing patterns and transmit feedback about muscle action, help assemble the complete circuits that control walking and running.
"Dr. Aifantis and Dr. Dasen are fantastically promising scientists and scholars whom we are so proud and please to have as colleagues," said Vivian S. Lee, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., vice dean for science and chief scientific officer & senior vice president at NYU Langone Medical Center. "The recognition of their transformative research at NYU is another example of our world renowned medical institution's talented researchers being acknowledged for making strides towards finding treatments and future cures for disease."
Early Career Scientist Selection Process
NYU School of Medicine's Early Career Scientists Dr. Aifantis and Dr. Dasen are among researchers at 33 institutions across the United States, who have led their own laboratories for two to six years making considerable contributions to biomedical research. The idea of this new initiative started in 2007, when HHMI began to look for opportunities to diversify its research portfolio. The Institute decided to establish a new research program to provide much-needed support to some of the nation's best early career faculty at a time when they most need the help.
In March 2008, HHMI unveiled its new Early Career Scientist program and announced a nationwide competition seeking applications from the nation's best early career scientists. Those working in all areas of basic biological and biomedical research and areas of chemistry, physics, computer science, and engineering that are directly related to biology or medicine were invited to apply. The competition drew more than 2,000 applicants. In selecting the finalists, HHMI was guided by the same "people, not projects" philosophy that defines its investigator program. Like HHMI investigators, the Early Career Scientists will have the freedom to explore and, if necessary, change direction in their research. The 41 men and 9 women will begin their six-year, nonrenewable appointments to HHMI in September 2009. The Institute anticipates a second Early Career Scientist competition in 2012.
More information about HHMI Early Career Scientists: http://pressroom.hhmi.org
About The Howard Hughes Medical Institute
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a nonprofit medical research organization that ranks as one of the nation's largest philanthropies, plays a powerful role in advancing biomedical research and science education in the United States. In the past two decades HHMI has made investments of more than $8.3 billion for the support, training, and education of the nation's most creative and promising scientists. HHMI's principal mission is conducting basic biomedical research, which it carries out in collaboration with more than 60 universities, medical centers, and other research institutions throughout the United States. Approximately 350 HHMI investigators, along with a scientific staff of more than 2,000, work at these institutions in Hughes laboratories. In a complementary program at HHMI's Janelia Farm Research Campus in Loudoun County, Virginia, leading scientists are pursuing long-term, high-risk, high-reward research in a campus specially designed to bring together researchers from disparate disciplines. The Institute's biomedical research expenditures during fiscal year 2008 totaled $658 million.
HHMI researchers are widely recognized for their creativity and productivity: 124 HHMI investigators are members of the National Academy of Sciences, and there are currently 13 Nobel laureates within the investigator community. The Institute also has a philanthropic grants program that emphasizes initiatives with the power to transform graduate and undergraduate education in the life sciences. Additionally, it supports the work of biomedical researchers in many countries around the globe. Through aggregate investments of more that $1.2 billion, the Institute has sought to reinvigorate life science education at both research universities and liberal arts colleges and to engage the nation's leading scientists in teaching. HHMI grants totaled $83 million in fiscal year 2008. The HHMI endowment is reported on an annual basis and stood at $17.5 billion at the start of the current fiscal year on September 1, 2008. Its headquarters are located in Chevy Chase, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C.
About NYU Langone Medical Center
Located in the heart of New York City, NYU Langone Medical Center is one of the nation's premier centers of excellence in health care, biomedical research, and medical education. For over 167 years, NYU physicians and researchers have made countless contributions to the practice and science of health care. Today the Medical Center consists of NYU School of Medicine, including the Smilow Research Center, the Skirball Institute of Biomolecular Medicine, and the Sackler Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences; the three hospitals of NYU Hospitals Center, Tisch Hospital, a 726-bed acute-care general hospital, Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, the first and largest facility of its kind, and NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases, a leader in musculoskeletal care; and such major programs as the NYU Cancer Institute, the NYU Child Study Center, and the Hassenfeld Children's Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders.