The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the nation’s largest biomedical research foundation, announced the appointment of Diana Bautista as a Howard Hughes Investigator today, alongside Greg Barton and David Savage. Howard Hughes Investigators receive roughly $9 million over a seven-year period; which can be renewed after a successful scientific review of the researcher’s work. Diana Bautista was selected from more than 800 eligible applicants for this honor. “HHMI is committed to giving outstanding biomedical scientists the time, resources and freedom they need to explore uncharted scientific territory,” said HHMI President Erin O’Shea. By employing scientists as HHMI Investigators, rather than by awarding them research grants, she said, the institute is guided by the principle of “people, not projects.” Bautista was selected by HHMI as a capable cell and molecular neurobiologist for her work on untangling the complex cellular and molecular interactions that contribute to chronic inflammation.
Bautista first tackled this issue in eczema, a chronic itch disorder. She found that a signaling molecule released by epithelial skin cells directly activates immune cells and triggers neurons to send out inflammatory signals that makes eczema flare up. Many children with eczema go on to develop asthma and allergies, and her team found similar signaling in airway neurons and lung epithelial cells. When the pandemic hit in 2020, Bautista’s lab began to research the new threat, because COVID-19 can also cause deadly lung inflammation. “As a woman of color, with a diverse group of trainees in my lab, we felt firsthand the disparities of COVID-19 in our own families and communities,” said Bautista. By looking at cellular-level changes that take place between infection and the time breathing problems develop, she hopes to untangle the ways SARS-CoV-2 impacts the nervous system and triggers inflammation. Adapted from Three new investigators named by Howard Hughes Medical Insitute by Robert Sanders. |
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