Fluorescently labeled human cells. Image: Jennifer Waters Shuler, PhD
Ryan Flynn, assistant professor of stem cell and regenerative biology in the Blavatnik Institute at Harvard Medical School, has received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Transformative Research Award.
Part of the NIH’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program, the Transformative Research Award supports individuals and teams of investigators who propose exceptionally innovative or unconventional research projects that are inherently risky and untested but could create or challenge fundamental paradigms.
The High-Risk, High-Reward Research program awarded approximately $207 million to 67 researchers this year. Funding is provided in part by the NIH Common Fund.
“The HRHR program champions exceptionally bold and innovative science that pushes the boundaries of biomedical and behavioral research,” said Tara Schwetz, 1director of the NIH Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, which oversees the NIH Common Fund.
“The groundbreaking science pursued by these researchers is poised to have a broad impact on human health,” Schwetz said.
Flynn’s lab researches the glycoRNA molecule, which operates at the interface of RNA biology, glycobiology, and the cell surface in the context of human disease. Flynn hopes understanding how cells communicate using cell surface RNA and RNA-binding proteins could explain how diseases like cancer exploit that communication.
In addition to the Common Fund, funding for the awards comes from the NIH’s National Institute of General Medical Sciences; National Institute of Mental Health; National Library of Medicine; National Institute on Aging; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; and Office of Dietary Supplements.
