February 18, 2021
Edgar Medina
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has named Edgar Medina, a postdoc in the Fritz-Laylin Lab, as one of their 2020 Hanna Gray Fellows. Medina’s mentor is Lillian Fritz-Laylin, assistant professor of biology.
HHMI announced the cohort of 21 early career researchers on Thursday, Feb. 17.
HHMI’s goal with the Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program is to recruit and retain individuals from gender, racial, ethnic and other groups underrepresented in the life sciences, including those individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Hanna Gray Fellows receive funding for their postdoc training and may continue to receive funding during their early career years as independent faculty. In total, fellows may receive up to $1.4 million each and be supported for up to eight years.
E-Mail
IMAGE: HHMI announces the selection of 21 exceptional early career scientists as 2020 Hanna Gray Fellows to support diversity in biomedical research. The 2022 Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program competition will. view more
Credit: HHMI
Twenty-one outstanding scientists. Eight years of financial support. One tight-knit community.
Today, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) announced the selection of the 2020 Hanna Gray Fellows, a cohort of 21 early career researchers who are taking on some of the biggest challenges in the life sciences, such as understanding the innerworkings of the brain or the complexities of the immune system. By unlocking basic principles, their work could one day ease symptoms in patients with chronic pain, treat kids suffering from pediatric leukemia, and spark new therapeutics for emerging infectious diseases.
Researchers gain insight into the biological processes of chytrid fungus
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst have gained new insight into the biological processes of a chytrid fungus responsible for a deadly skin infection devastating frog populations worldwide.
Led by cell biologist Lillian Fritz-Laylin, the team describes in a paper published Feb. 8 in
Current Biology how the actin networks of Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd) also serve as an evolutionary Rosetta Stone, revealing the loss of cytoskeletal complexity in the fungal kingdom. Fungi and animals seem so different, but they are actually pretty closely related, says Fritz-Laylin, whose lab studies how cells move, which is a central activity in the progression and prevention of many human diseases. This project, the work of Sarah Prostak in my lab, shows that during early fungal evolution, fungi probably had cells that looked something like our cells, and which could crawl around like our cell