Two University of Colorado at Boulder researchers are receiving coveted awards from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Joaquin Espinosa, professor of molecular, cellular and developmental biology, and Rob Knight, professor of chemistry, biochemistry and computer science, received Early Career Scientists awards.
The awards come with full salary, benefits and a research budget of $1.5 million over six years and space and equipment costs.
The institute honored 50 researchers across the country.
Espinosa studies how gene networks control the behavior of cancer cells. The award will allow his research team to use genomics and proteomics technology to find new targets for cancer therapy.
“These high-risk, high-payoff experiments would have been dismissed by most funding agencies as fishing expeditions,” Espinosa said. “Fortunately, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute carries on the adventurous spirit of its founder.”
Knight studies the evolution of the composition of biomolecules and genomes.
