Massachusetts General Hospital

2012 Research Scholars announced

25/May/2012

FORWARD THINKERS: From left, MGH supporter Steve Gorlin; John T. Potts Jr., MD, director of Research and physician-in-chief emeritus; Hacohen; Alter; J. Keith Joung, MD, PhD, a 2011 Research Scholar; and Szostak

The second group of MGH Research Scholars – recipients of unrestricted five-year grants to support innovative investigations – was announced at the hospital’s Research Advisory Council (RAC) annual meeting on May 11. The eight recipients were selected from among 96 applications by a committee led by Nobel Laureate Jack Szostak, PhD, of the Department of Molecular Biology, and Bruce Walker, MD, director of the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and Harvard. The 2012 MGH Research Scholars are:

• Galit Alter, PhD, Division of Infectious Diseases and the Ragon Institute;
• Brian Bacskai, PhD, Department of Neurology;
• Nicholas Dyson, PhD, MGH Cancer Center;
• Nir Hacohen, PhD, Center for Immunology and Inflammatory Diseases;
• Eng Lo, PhD, MGH Neuroscience Center;
• Raul Mostoslavsky, PhD, MGH Cancer Center;
• Anders Näär, PhD, MGH Cancer Center; and
• Gary Tearney, MD, PhD, Wellman Center for Photomedicine and the Department of Pathology.

The Research Scholars Program grant was launched last year by the Executive Committee on Research and the RAC through a $10 million challenge grant from an anonymous donor. The program is designed to give forward-thinking MGH investigators the flexibility to pursue research into unexpected areas. Funds raised by the MGH Development Office allowed an expansion from last year’s group of five recipients.

“Today, when biomedical research is on the threshold of unparalleled advances, the need for philanthropic support is greater than ever,” said Samuel O. Thier, MD, former president of the MGH and Partners HealthCare, at the RAC meeting. “There has never been a better time to invest in biomedical research.”

For more information about the MGH Research Scholars Program, visit www.massgeneral.org/researchadvisory/researchscholars.

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