Hhmi?

[Marquis_Phoenix]

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I know it means Howard Hughes Medical Investigator. But how does it demarcate the "best researchers"?

From another thread:

I would go to the lower-ranked MSTP, assuming that it pays a full stipend, and work in the lab of one of their best researchers (e.g. an HHMI investigator)

 

[tbo]

HHMI Investigators are supposed to be some of the most innovative medical scientists there are. I'm not linked to any HHMIs but I think the selection process goes something like a solicitation for NIH-Request for Proposals (Invitation-only grants). Often, they are on a particular topic and proposals are submitted. Only the very best get chosen.

If you look through the HHMI Investigator listing, the pretty obvious commonality among all of them is that they were highly successful/productive in research early in their careers and by the time they are awarded the HHMI title, they are very much established in the literature. I can only assume that means they are just as equally well-footed in the scientific community as a whole. Training under an HHMI is training under one of the best in medical research.

 

[malchik]

HHMI Investigators are supposed to be some of the most innovative medical scientists there are. I'm not linked to any HHMIs but I think the selection process goes something like a solicitation for NIH-Request for Proposals (Invitation-only grants). Often, they are on a particular topic and proposals are submitted. Only the very best get chosen.


Not really. Selection is by solicitation of nominations from current HHMI investigators, department chairs, etc. It is VERY political and nepotic, and based on the individual, not any grant they write. You can appreciate this if you look at the pedigrees of many HHMI investigators, they very often trained under HHMI investigators themselves. Also, there is a huge concentration of HHMi people at certain prestigious universities, while some decent institutions have next to none even though they have some great scientists. This is not to say that HHMI people are not in general very productive and creative, they certainly are. They also have a lot of money, which of course fosters productivity, and is another reason they are good to train with.

 

[3Xhelix]

I currently work as a technician in an HHMI lab. I think that a lot of the above comments are correct - HHMI investigators seem to be those who have taken novel, clever appraoches and/or made big discoveries, especally early in their careers (judging from the articles in the HHMI bulletin i read anyway). I would say HHMI funding is defienitely an indication that a lab has been successful in the recent past. Whether or not that transfers into quality opportunities and research on your part is another story, although the funding certainly couldn't hurt 😉