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Allen Distinguished Investigators

The Allen Distinguished Investigator program supports early-stage research with the potential to reinvent entire fields.

 

With grants between $1 million and $1.5 million to individuals and scientific teams, these researchers receive enough funding to produce momentum in their respective fields.

Allen Distinguished Investigators are passionate thought leaders, explorers, and innovators who seek world-changing breakthroughs. Their ideas are transformative and their scientific insights are game-changing. They share a pioneering spirit, the ability to imagine possible futures of science, and the ability to create new ways of thinking to share with the world.

Talent is everywhere. Allen Distinguished Investigators may come from small universities or large institutions, cities, or towns across the world. We explore the landscape of bioscience to identify distinguished leaders who will make a difference.

View past awardees

 

2023 Cohorts

 

Extracellular Vesicles

Extracellular vesicles hold huge promise as a means of therapeutic delivery; however, their diversity and a lack of understanding of their basic biology are hindering progress. This cohort seeks to elucidate fundamental principles of the biology of extracellular vesicles in a variety of contexts, including the development of technologies to better visualize and track them in living organisms.

 

Sex Hormones

Researchers in this cohort are uncovering the cellular and molecular actions of sex hormones outside of reproduction and reproduction-related development. Their work addresses a key need to deepen our understanding of how sex hormones affect many of biological processes. These new discoveries have the potential to impact human health, including diagnostics and treatment.

 

2022 Cohorts

 

Nutrient Sensing

Researchers in this cohort are developing new technologies to measure or visualize nutrient levels within cells. Their work addresses a key need in the field, namely the ability to capture detailed information about metabolites, chemical compounds, and other nutrients in live individual cells. These new techniques could propel understanding of the basic biology of cells as well as how metabolism or nutrition processing goes wrong in diseases like diabetes or malnutrition.

 

 

Protein Lifespan

Proteins are the building blocks of life — nearly all cellular structures and processes are built and carried out by proteins. Do our proteins age like our bodies age? While scientists have discovered how cells turn over old proteins to create new forms, it’s not clear how lifespan varies among different kinds of proteins, what it means to have “old” proteins, or how the cellular environment could affect protein aging. Researchers in this cohort are building new technologies and designing experiments to address important questions around protein lifespan and aging.

 

2021 Cohorts

 

Neural Circuit Design

Researchers in the Neural Circuit Design cohort are studying evolutionary principles in the brain circuits that control movement, focusing on animals and systems that are not traditionally studied in the laboratory. Their studies will flesh out a more complete picture of the diversity of nervous systems and motor neural circuits in the animal kingdom, as well as pinpointing common and conserved principles of motion and motor control.

 

Micropeptides

Our genomes contain vast amounts of DNA that remain poorly understood. A recent arrival on the scene of genomic “dark matter”: micropeptides, tiny proteins coded by tiny genes that had long escaped notice due to their size but that appear to be present in large numbers in our genome and that of every other living thing. These small molecules likely play roles in many different biological processes; scientists are recently uncovering their influence in several different diseases and in the function of the immune system. Scientists in the Micropeptides cohort are shedding new light on how micropeptides influence immunology, in health and in disease.

 

Mammalian Synthetic Development

The field of synthetic biology has made incredible advances in recent years, and yet the complexity of mammalian biology presents an additional challenge for scientists aiming to engineer tissue or organoids in the lab. The investigators in the Mammalian Synthetic Development cohort are working to cross many of the barriers to mammalian synthetic biology, including several approaches to improve the development and engineering of organoids, lab-grown mini-organs typically derived from human stem cells. Their work spans many parts of the human body, including the liver, lungs, brain, and connective tissues.

 

 

Past Allen Distinguished Investigators

The Allen Distinguished Investigator program was launched in 2010 by the late philanthropist Paul G. Allen to back creative, early-stage research projects in biology and medical research that would not otherwise be supported by traditional research funding programs. A total of 130 Allen Distinguished Investigators have been appointed during the past 12 years. Each award spans three years of research funding.

 

Meet past investigators.

Cell Nucleus Cohort

In vivo analysis of nuclear mechanics and mechanotransduction

  • G.W. Gant Luxton, Ph.D. | University of California, Davis
  • Daniel Starr, Ph.D. | University of California, Davis

Nuclear-endoplasmic reticulum communication during normal remodeling and pathological alteration of these organelles

  • Maho Niwa, Ph.D. | University of California San Diego
  • Katharine Ullman, Ph.D. | University of Utah

New models for nuclear homeostasis: integrating force, flow and pressure

  • Megan King, Ph.D. | Yale University
  • Simon Mochrie, Ph.D. | Yale University

Immunometabolism Cohort

Decoding the 3D immuno-metabolic circuitry

  • Will Bailis, Ph.D. | University of Pennsylvania
  • Chris Bennett, M.D. | University of Pennsylvania
  • Ruaidhri Jackson, Ph.D. | Harvard Medical School

Distinct immune-metabolic niches in inflammatory bowel disease

  • Aida Habtezion, M.D., MSc FRCPC | Stanford University
  • Nandita Garud, Ph.D. | University of California, Los Angeles
  • Carolina Tropini, Ph.D. | University of British Columbia

Defining infection-induced metabolic reprogramming: from cells to systems

  • Yasmine Belkaid, Ph.D. | National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
  • Russell Jones, Ph.D. | Van Andel Institute

Bioluminescent tools for noninvasive, real-time imaging of immunometabolism

  • Michelle Digman, Ph.D. | University of California, Irvine
  • Jennifer Prescher, Ph.D. | University of California, Irvine

2019 Expansion Cohort

Early manifestations of subcellular defects in neurodegenerative diseases

  • Gene Yeo, Ph.D, MBA | University of California San Diego

Tracking proteome dynamics in single cells

  • Nikolai Slavov, Ph.D. | Northeastern University

 

 

Spatial Single-Cell Technologies Cohort

Spatially-resolved proteomic mapping of complex tissues at the single cell level

  • Savas Tay, Ph.D. | University of Chicago

Quantitative, spatially-resolved analysis of tissue metabolism

  • Joshua Rabinowitz, Ph.D. | Princeton University

Disease Models Cohort

Reading and writing cell histories: New genomic technologies to unlock cell programming

  • Samantha Morris, Ph.D. | Washington University in St. Louis

Simulating the Gut-Brain Axis using iPSC and Organ-Chip Technology: a New Model of Parkinson’s Disease

  • Clive Svendsen, Ph.D. | Cedars-Sinai

Human iPSC Models of Metabolic and Digestive Diseases

  • James Wells, Ph.D. | Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center

 

2018 Curated ADI Cohort

Unmasking and Exploiting Astrocyte Biology

  • Baljit S. Khakh, Ph.D. | University of California, Los Angeles

Reverse engineering of biological circuits underlying aging and development

  • Marc Kirschner, Ph.D. | Harvard Medical School

Nuclear Biophysics Cohort

Nuclear Organization Through Phase Separation: Mechanisms, Functions and Disease

  • Michael Rosen, Ph.D. | The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Nuclear Organization Through Phase Separation: Mechanisms, Functions and Disease

  • Clodagh O’Shea, Ph.D. | Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Lymphoma Cohort

Developing in situ programming of CAR T-cells for clinical use in lymphoma patients

  • Matthias Stephan, M.D., Ph.D. | Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington

Defining Vulnerabilities of MRD

  • David Weinstock, M.D. | Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
  • Scott Manalis, Ph.D. | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The microenvironment architecture and ecosystem of Hodgkin lymphoma

  • Christian Steidl, M.D. | BC Cancer Research Centre and the University of British Columbia

Neuroimmune Cohort

Brain vasculature at the neuro-immune interface

  • Chenghua Gu, Ph.D. | Harvard Medical School

Deciphering peripheral neuroimmune architecture by intercellular labelling

  • Henrique Veiga-Fernandes, D.V.M., Ph.D. | Champalimaud Foundation

Curated 2017 ADI Cohort

Universal Epigenetic Aging Clock

  • Steve Horvath, Ph.D. | University of California, Los Angeles

Real Time Evolution and Gene Flows

  • Rachel Whitaker, Ph.D. | University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

AHA ADI Cohort

Information Storage and Retrieval in the Cardiac Extracellular Matrix

  • Jeffrey Holmes, M.D., Ph.D. | University of Virginia

Forward and reverse degradomics of cardiovascular extracellular matrix

  • Suneel Apte, M.B.B.S., D. Phil. | Cleveland Clinic Lerner Research Institute

Epigenetics Cohort

Multi-modal Visualization of the Dynamic Epigenome

  • Fei Chen, Ph.D. | Broad Institute
  • Jason Buenrostro, Ph.D. | Broad Institute and Harvard University

Systematic mapping of epigenetic marks to the 3D architecture of the human genome in single cells.

  • Jan Ellenberg, Ph.D. | European Molecular Biology Laboratory
  • Ralf Jungmann, Ph.D. | Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry and LMU Munich

Epigenome Editing Technologies for Cell Programming

  • Charles A. Gersbach, Ph.D. | Duke University

 

Curated ADI Cohort

How developmental noise in neural circuit development determines the unique behavior of individuals

  • Bassem Hassan, Ph.D. | Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière (ICM)

Synthetic biology approaches to antimicrobial resistance

  • James J. Collins, Ph.D. | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Anti-viral Machinery and Cell Editing Platforms

  • Jennifer Doudna, Ph.D. | University of California, Berkeley

Biological Innovation and Active Genetics

  • Ethan Bier, Ph.D. | University of California, San Diego

Neuronal Maturation Cohort

“Flight Data” Recorder, Checkpoint Timing, Hodaptics, and Growth Cone Independence

  • Jeffrey Macklis, M.D., D.HST | Harvard University

Genome-Scale Technologies for Reverse-Engineering Transcriptional Logics Underlying Cell Fate Specification

  • Feng Zhang, Ph.D. | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Identifying and Inducing Hallmarks of Maturity in Human Neurons

  • William Lowry, Ph.D. | University of California, Los Angeles
  • Kathrin Plath, Ph.D. | University of California, Los Angeles

Transcriptomic and epigenetic acceleration of neuronal maturation and aging

  • Daniel Geschwind, Ph.D. | University of California, Los Angeles
  • Steve Horvath, Ph.D. | University of California, Los Angeles

Matching Regional Diversity with Function: Unique Astrocyte Signals Mature Regionally Matched Neurons

  • Erik Ullian, Ph.D. | University of California, San Francisco
  • David Rowitch, Ph.D. | University of California, San Francisco

Using miRNAs to Accelerate in vitro Circuit Maturation in 3D Neural Structures from ESCs

  • Thomas Reh, Ph.D. | University of Washington
  • Rachel Wong, Ph.D. | University of Washington
  • Fred Rieke, Ph.D. | University of Washington

Alzheimer’s Cohort

Mapping glymphatic pathway function in the human brain: Detecting glio-vascular changes that slow amyloid β clearance from the aging brain

  • Jeffrey Iliff, Ph.D. | University of Washington School of Medicine & VA Puget Sound
  • William Rooney, Ph.D. | Oregon Health & Science University

Resolving white matter dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease with novel biosensors

  • Ragnhildur Thóra Káradóttir, Ph.D. | University of Cambridge

Systematic elucidation of cellular networks controlling proteinopathy in Alzheimer’s disease

  • Michael Keiser, Ph.D. | University of California, San Francisco
  • Martin Kampmann, Ph.D. | University of California, San Francisco
  • David Kokel, Ph.D. | University of California, San Francisco

Human age-equivalent directly induced neurons to study functional phenotypes of Alzheimer’s disease.

  • Fred “Rusty” Gage, Ph.D. | Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Dysregulation of pH dynamics in Alzheimer Disease Pathogenesis

  • Aimee Kao, Ph.D. | University of California, San Francisco

Lineage Barcode Cohort

Tracking cell fate decisions in single cells

  • Michael Elowitz, Ph.D. | California Institute of Technology
  • Long Cai, Ph.D. | California Institute of Technology

Protein-Based Barcodes for Mapping B Cell Differentiation at High Resolution

  • Neil Kelleher, Ph.D. | Northwestern University

Cell lineage Defined by Mitotic Recombination

  • Marshall Horwitz, Ph.D. | University of Washington
  • Jay Shendure, Ph.D. | University of Washington

 

Cell Decision Making and Modeling Cohort

Crowd Computing with Bacteria: Balancing Phenotypic Diversity and Coordinated Behavior

  • Thierry Emonet, Ph.D. | Yale University
  • Steven Zucker, Ph.D. | Yale University
  • Tom Shimizu, Ph.D. | FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics (AMOLF)

Microbial Studies of Cellular Decision-Making: Game Theory and the Evolutionary Origins of Cooperation

  • Jeff Gore, Ph.D. | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Cell-Size Control and Its Evolution at the Single-Cell Level

  • Suckjoon Jun, Ph.D. | University of California, San Diego

Untangling the Wires: an Integrated Framework for Probing Signal Encoding and Decoding in Cellular Circuits

  • Hana El-Samad, Ph.D. | University of California, San Francisco

Towards Whole-Cell Models of Higher Organisms

  • Markus Covert, Ph.D. | Stanford University

Human Accelerated Regions Cohort

Genetic Mutation of HARs and Human Neurocognition

  • Evan Eichler, Ph.D. | University of Washington

Analysis of Positively Selected Genetic Changes Unique to Modern Humans

  • Svante Pääbo, Ph.D. | Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology

Molecular and Genetic Analysis of Human Brain Evolution

  • Christopher Walsh, M.D., Ph.D. | Harvard University

UW Brain-Computer Spinal Interface Cohort

Development of a Brain-Computer-Spinal Interface

  • Chet Moritz, Ph.D. | University of Washington
  • Adrienne Fairhall, Ph.D. | University of Washington
  • Joshua Smith, Ph.D. | University of Washington

Botswana-Lymphoma Cohort

Redefining Lymphoma Characterization, Assessment, and Development of Protocols for Treatment

  • Bruce Chabner, Ph.D. | Massachusetts General Hospital

Genetic Identification of Attack Neurons in the Mouse

  • David Anderson, Ph.D. | California Institute of Technology

Evaluating Connectomes Using Measures of Complexity and Synergy

  • Christof Koch, Ph.D. | California Institute of Technology

Sequencing the Connectome

  • Tony Zador, Ph.D. | Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Massively-Parallel, Three-Dimensional, Circuitwide Recording of Neural Activity

  • Ed Boyden, Ph.D. | Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Ethomics: A Technology-Driven Approach to Study the Genetic and Neural Basis of Behavior

  • Michael Dickinson, Ph.D. | University of Washington

Reprogramming Cells with Plant-Derived Signaling Pathways

  • Jennifer Nemhauser, Ph.D. | University of Washington
  • Eric Klavins, Ph.D. | University of Washington

Massively Parallel Brain Imaging in Mouse Models of Human Brain Disease

  • Mark Schnitzer, Ph.D. | Stanford University

Science Programs at Allen Institute