Plant and microbial biology associate professor Britt Glaunsinger has been appointment a 2015 Howard Hughes Medical Investigator.
Britt Glaunsinger has been appointed a 2015 Howard Hughes Medical Investigator, one of 26 biomedical researchers from across the nation selected from a pool of more than 800 applicants.
Glaunsinger, an associate professor in the Department of Plant & Microbial Biology at UC Berkeley, is being recognized as an investigator who is "at the forefront of discovery research" for her work on viruses.
"Funding from HHMI is wonderful, in part, because it allows us the flexibility to pursue new ideas—both in the context of our ongoing research program and in our ability to expand into uncharted areas," Glaunsinger said. "The fact that the fund allocation is at the discretion of the researcher, rather than restricted to specific pre-approved projects, means that we can rapidly follow up on exciting new directions."
Glaunsinger says we can learn a lot about ourselves by studying viruses that have evolved to infiltrate our cells.
"Viruses are remarkable molecular machines, having evolved to hijack or evade a myriad of cellular pathways," she said. "They are ubiquitous agents of disease and powerful tools to help us understand the biology of our own cells."