The announcement of Marc R. Freeman, PhD, associate professor of neurobiology, being named one of nine new Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigators from Massachusetts on May 9 is reported online in the Boston Globe.
Massachusetts researchers comprise one third of the 27 new scientists to receive the coveted HHMI funding—a greater concentration than any other region in the U.S.
A leader in the study of glial cells, the brain’s most abundant and overlooked cell type, Dr. Freeman was chosen for his individual scientific excellence from a group of 1,155 applicants. He has been a member of the UMMS faculty since 2004. In 2009, he was named one of 50 HHMI Early Career Scientists.
Other Boston-area scientists who have been named investigators study a wide range of subjects, including the power plants within cells, genomics and evolutionary biology, according to the Globe.
