Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Founder	Howard Hughes
Founded	1953
Headquarters	Chevy Chase, Maryland, United States
Focus	Biological and Medical research
Method	Laboratories, Funding
Endowment	$14.8 billion USD
Website	[1]

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) is a United States non-profit medical research institute based in Chevy Chase, Maryland and originally founded by the aviator and engineer Howard Hughes in 1953. Image File history File links Hhmi_logo_small. ... For the computer game previously called Entrepreneur, see The Corporate Machine. ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ... Chevy Chase is the name of both a town and an unincorporated Census-Designated Place in Montgomery County, Maryland (see Chevy Chase (CDP), Maryland). ... A financial endowment is a transfer of money or property donated to an institution, with the stipulation that it be invested, and the principal remain intact. ... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ... A website (or Web site) is a collection of web pages, typically common to a particular domain name or subdomain on the World Wide Web on the Internet. ... A non-profit organization (often called non-profit org or simply non-profit or not-for-profit) can be seen as an organization that doesnt have a goal to make a profit. ... medicines, see medication and pharmacology. ... A research institute is a establishment endowed for doing research. ... Chevy Chase is the name of both a town and an unincorporated Census-Designated Place in Montgomery County, Maryland (see Chevy Chase (CDP), Maryland). ... For the Welsh murderer, see Howard Hughes (murderer). ... 1953 (MCMLIII) was a common year starting on Thursday. ...

As of 2005 it is one of the largest private funding organizations for biological and medical research in the United States. According to the institute's current president, Thomas R. Cech, the HHMI spends about $1 million per investigator per year, which amounts to annual investment in biomedical research of about $483 million. As of September 2005, the endowment of the Institute was valued at approximately $14.8 billion, making it the second-wealthiest philanthropic organization in the United States (behind the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation), and the second best endowed medical research foundation in the world (after the United Kingdom's Wellcome Trust). 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Thomas R. Cech received Nobel Prize in 1989 because he discovered the catalytic properties of RNA with Sidney Altman. ... One thousand million (1,000,000,000) is the natural number following 999,999,999 and preceding 1,000,000,001. ... Philanthropy involves the donation or granting of money to various worthy charitable causes. ... The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is the worlds largest charitable foundation. ... New Wellcome Trust building on Euston Road The Wellcome Trust is a United Kingdom-based charity established in 1936 to administer the fortune of the American-born pharmaceutical magnate Sir Henry Wellcome. ...

Initially, the institute was formed with the stated goal of basic research including trying to understand, in Hughes' words, "genesis of life itself". Despite its lofty principles, in the early days it was generally viewed as largely a tax haven for Hughes' huge personal fortune. Hughes was the sole trustee of HHMI and transferred all his stock of Hughes Aircraft to the institute, in effect turning the large defense contractor into a tax-exempt charity. For many years the Institute grappled with maintaining its non-profit status; the Internal Revenue Service challenged its "charitable" status which made it tax exempt. Partly in response to such claims, starting in the late 1950s it began funding 47 investigators researching at eight different institutions; however, it remained a modest enterprise for several decades. In fact it was not until after Hughes' death in 1976 that the Institute's profile increased from an annual budget of $4 million in 1975 to $15 million by 1978. In this period it refocused its mission on genetics, immunology and the rapidly growing field of molecular biology.Since Hughes died without a will as the sole trustee of the HHMI, the Institute was involved in lengthy court proceedings to determine whether it would benefit from Hughes fortune. In 1984, a court appointed new trustees for the institute's holdings. In January 1985 the trustees announced they would sell Hughes Aircraft either by private sale or public stock offering. On 06-05-1985 General Motors was announced as the winner of a secretive five month, sealed-bid auction. The purchase was completed on 12-20-1985 for an estimated $5.2 billion, $2.7 billion in cash and the rest in 50 million shares of GM Class H stock. The proceeds caused the institute to grow dramatically. Hughes logo adopted after his death Hughes developed the AIM-120 AMRAAM, one of the worlds most advanced air-to-air missiles Hughes Aircraft Company was a major defense/aerospace company founded by Howard Hughes. ... Seal of the Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the United States government agency that collects taxes and enforces the internal revenue laws. ... // Recovering from World War II and its aftermath, the economic miracle emerged in West Germany and Italy. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... 1975 (MCMLXXV) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Immunology is a broad branch of biomedical science that covers the study of all aspects of the immune system in all organisms. ... Molecular biology is the study of biology at a molecular level. ...

HHMI has recently completed building a new research campus in Ashburn, Virginia called Janelia Farm Research Campus. It is modeled after AT&T's Bell Labs and the Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecular Biology. With a main laboratory building over 1,000 feet long, it contains 760,000 square feet of enclosed space, used primarily for research. The campus also features apartments for visiting researchers. Ashburn, Virginia is an unincorporated area located in Loudoun County, Virginia and is part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. ... Janelia Farm is a research campus of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute that opened in October of 2006. ... Bell Laboratories (also known as Bell Labs and formerly known as AT&T Bell Laboratories and Bell Telephone Laboratories) was the main research and development arm of the United States Bell System. ...

See also

• List of wealthiest foundations

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External links

• Howard Hughes Medical Institute website
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute Online Companion to NOVA scienceNOW
• 60 Minutes news feature "Howard Hughes: Patron Of Science?"
• Janelia Farm Research Campus website
• Howard Hughes Medical Investigators