Funding innovation
Nine researchers from across Harvard have received more than $15 million in special National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants designed to foster innovative research with the potential to propel fields forward and speed the translation of research into improved public health. The nine, who include five members of Harvard’s Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) faculty, three Harvard Medical School (HMS) faculty, and one junior fellow in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), were named recipients of the NIH Director’s Transformative Research R01 Award, Pioneer Award, and New Innovator Award. The awards are aimed at supporting innovative or unconventional research ideas that might have a broad impact on biomedical science. “The NIH Director’s Award programs reinvigorate the biomedical work force by providing unique opportunities to conduct research that is neither incremental nor conventional,” said James M. Anderson, director of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives, who guides the Common...