Hughes network expands by a big leap
Marshall, E.
Science 276(5316): 1189
1997
ISSN/ISBN: 0036-8075 PMID: 9182325 Document Number: 474297
Fueled by the booming stock market, the portfolio of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) of Chevy Chase, Maryland, has increased to the value of almost $9.7 billion this year. The phenomenal growth has allowed HHMI to increase the number of its investigators by 25 percent, to over 330. By agreement with the tax authorities, the institute must spend 3.5 percent of its endowment every year on medical research by its employees. At present, HHMI's budget is $455 million, $338 million of which pays for research that concentrates on cell biology, genetics, immunology, neuroscience, and structural biology. A large grants program on science education is also supported by the institute, and research stipends, which are valid for five or seven years, are awarded competitively.