CHEVY CHASE, Md., April 26, 1999 -- How do young biomedical researchers get up to speed on the swift, often precipitous advances in their own and related fields? How do established scientists move their research into new avenues? Many find the answer in postgraduate short courses at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) on Long Island, N.Y.
The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) has awarded $1.32 million to CSHL to support advanced courses in molecular biology, neuroscience and structural biology, including a new program in imaging.
"Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory serves as an international educational resource for the biomedical research community," said HHMI President Purnell W. Choppin. "Young scientists and established researchers alike gather there to learn the latest developments at the cutting edges of their fields."
The Institute has supported the internationally esteemed short courses at CSHL since 1988, when HHMI funding helped enable the Laboratory to extend its program of summer courses to an intense, nearly year-round schedule. Since that time, the Institute has awarded $10.4 million to CSHL, of which $4.4 million supported courses such as Biology of Memory, Genome Informatics and Macromolecular Crystallography, all offered this year. The additional $6 million was used to construct the Hughes Teaching Laboratory, where many of these courses are taught.
HHMI grants help provide scholarships to CSHL short courses for scientists worldwide and enable the Laboratory to bring in leading researchers as course directors and guest lecturers.
"The Institute's continuing commitment to these courses reflects their value and quality," said Joseph G. Perpich, HHMI's vice president for grants and special programs. "Over the years, many of the graduate and postgraduate students supported by HHMI also have benefited from these courses. They serve as a model for HHMI-funded workshops in Latin America, in conjunction with the Institute's international program."
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (http://www.cshl.org/) founded in 1890, is a private, nonprofit basic research and educational institution with programs in cancer, neuroscience and plant biology. CSHL offers genetics and molecular biology education to graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, established investigators and Nobel laureates from around the world. The Laboratory also operates education programs for children, high school students, teachers and the public.
HHMI also supports other institutions that provide unique resources to biomedical researchers. The Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., for example, will receive a new award of $2.2 million over the next four years to support 12 postgraduate courses in developmental biology, microbiology and neurobiology.