The Howard Hughes Medical Institute recently announced the selection of Albert Bendelac, M.D., Ph.D., Professor, Department of Pathology, and Milan Mrksich, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Chemistry, as new Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. Bendelac and Mrksich are among 43 investigators nationwide chosen by HHMI in a national competition that began in 2004 when the Institute asked approximately 200 universities, medical schools, and institutes to nominate candidates who demonstrated exceptional promise within 4 to 10 years of their becoming independent scientists. More than 300 individuals were nominated.

“We are committed to providing these scientists—and the nearly 300 scientists who are already part of HHMI—with the freedom and flexibility they need in order to make lasting contributions to mankind,” said Thomas R. Cech, HHMI’s president. “We want and expect them to be daring.”

Bendelac and Mrksich bring to eight the total number of HHMI investigators at the University of Chicago.

At a relatively young age, Bendelac made a discovery that caused a stir among immunologists around the world. He characterized a type of T cell, called a natural killer T (NKT) cell, which is unusual because it targets lipids instead of proteins. His findings pointed to a new role for T cells—one indicating that NKT cells serve as a bridge between innate and adaptive immunity.

Mrksich is considered a world leader in the realm of engineering the interface between cells and surfaces. As a postdoctoral fellow, he helped transform an inexpensive process for making computer microchips into a method to control the shape, position and function of living cells. This method was used to gain insight into how mammalian cells decide to grow, differentiate, move or die.

As HHMI investigators, Bendelac and Mrksich will continue to be based at the University of Chicago, but will become HHMI employees. Their five-year appointments will enable Bendelac and Mrksich to receive long-term funding with no requirement of annual reports or grant renewals, allowing them the freedom to follow their scientific instincts and to pursue new opportunities as soon as they arise.

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