Whitehead Institute elects next director

Abstract

The Whitehead Institute of Biomedical Research announced that its new director will be the acclaimed molecular biologist Susan Lindquist. Previously based at the University of Chicago, Lindquist will become the third person to head the prestigious Institute, succeeding yeast biologist Gerald Fink and Nobel Laureate David Baltimore, making her one of the most influential women currently working in US science. Lindquist will use her position to help to support gender equality in science, which she says ‘most resoundingly isn't where it should be.’ Lindquist established her scientific reputation through work on protein folding, in diverse contexts including prion transmission, heredity and biomaterials, and is keen to promote the interdisciplinary nature of modern biomedical science ‘with physics, chemistry and biology all coming together’. She added: ‘When worlds collide, sparks fly, allowing us to take old problems and attack them in new ways.’ Founded by a wealthy benefactor, the Whitehead Institute is financially independent, but affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It has a reputation for top-quality, pioneering science through its work on the human genome project, cancer, AIDS and other areas. The appointment has met with acclaim and was described as ‘an inspired choice’ by MIT Provost Robert Brown. S.L.