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Research facility · Chevy Chase · United States

Howard Hughes Medical Institute

In research, Howard Hughes Medical Institute stands highest in Life Sciences (#4 of 7,800 worldwide), Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology (#2 of 3,579 worldwide) and Molecular Biology (#6 of 2,175 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Biophysics and Cell Biology — Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience is 14.4× its share of world research.

hhmi.orgROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#68
of 28,054 · #15 all time
Rank in United States
#16
of 4,192
Research works
29k
▼ 33% vs 2013–17
Citations
5M
171.9 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
49.8%
record average 16.5%
Open access
63%
world 28%

What is Howard Hughes Medical Institute known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Life SciencesDomain #4 of 7,800 50.8%1,184 #2
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField #2 of 3,579 48.5%796 #2
Molecular BiologySubfield #6 of 2,175 47.8%545 #2
NeuroscienceField #4 of 1,168 52.5%169 #2
Immunology and MicrobiologyField #15 of 682 55.7%107 #2
Cellular and Molecular NeuroscienceSubfield #4 of 150 49.3%75 #1
ImmunologySubfield #14 of 455 57.6%93 #2
MedicineField #412 of 10,443 52.1%286 #37
Health SciencesDomain #597 of 11,982 52.3%295 #53
GeneticsSubfield #35 of 489 50.8%76 #2

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where Howard Hughes Medical Institute sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Life Sciences#2 #4
  2. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology#2 #2
  3. Molecular Biology#2 #6
  4. Neuroscience#2 #4
  5. Immunology and Microbiology#2 #15
  6. Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience#1 #4
  7. Immunology#2 #14
  8. Medicine#37 #412
  9. Health Sciences#53 #597
  10. Genetics#2 #35
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

What does Howard Hughes Medical Institute specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience takes 14.4× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. Cellular and Molecular NeuroscienceSubfield · 74.9 works14×
  2. BiophysicsSubfield · 25.2 works13×
  3. Cell BiologySubfield · 59.0 works12×
  4. Molecular BiologySubfield · 544.7 works11×
  5. Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyField · 796.1 works9.0×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 1.37× its world share, 108 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 8.98× its world share, 796 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 6.38× its world share, 107 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 6.27× its world share, 169 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.62× its world share, 4 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.39× its world share, 2 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.84× its world share, 22 worksChemistryComputer Science: 0.09× its world share, 12 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 0.18× its world share, 5 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.60× its world share, 9 worksEnergyEngineering: 0.13× its world share, 32 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.42× its world share, 34 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.38× its world share, 22 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.13× its world share, 3 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 0.32× its world share, 12 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 0.05× its world share, 0 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.05× its world share, 2 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.89× its world share, 286 worksMedicineNursing: 0.79× its world share, 6 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.20× its world share, 0 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.10× its world share, 5 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.02× its world share, 1 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 0.20× its world share, 3 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 0.03× its world share, 1 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 0.26× its world share, 13 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 0.04× its world share, 8 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology, 9.0×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at Howard Hughes Medical Institute?

Ranked on the composite score, Craig B. Thompson, Carolyn R. Bertozzi and Frederick W. Alt lead among researchers whose main affiliation is Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

  1. 1 Craig B. Thompson · #2,288 worldwide 1.8k citations · 97 works
  2. 2 Carolyn R. Bertozzi · #3,112 worldwide 1.6k citations · 104 works
  3. 3 Frederick W. Alt · #3,555 worldwide 1.1k citations · 87 works
  4. 4 Gerald M. Rubin · #3,990 worldwide 6.2k citations · 61 works
  5. 5 Elaine Fuchs · #6,841 worldwide 980 citations · 64 works
  6. 6 Sean J. Morrison · #7,986 worldwide 1.3k citations · 55 works
  7. 7 Thomas C. Südhof · #11,354 worldwide 1.1k citations · 68 works
  8. 8 Thomas R. Cech · #13,737 worldwide 778 citations · 54 works
  9. 9 Stephen J. Elledge · #15,006 worldwide 826 citations · 56 works
  10. 10 Joseph R. Nevins · #16,505 worldwide 668 citations · 62 works
All ranked researchers at Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Which keywords describe research at Howard Hughes Medical Institute?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Gene Expression, Cancer, Gene Regulation, Oxidative Stress, Translation, Genetic Code, Ribosome and RNA Structure.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Cancer86▲ 3.8×44 topics
  2. Oxidative Stress83▲ 3.1×45 topics
  3. Gene Expression75▲ 7.4×18 topics
  4. Gene Regulation61▲ 41×4 topics
  5. Inflammation60▲ 1.74×69 topics
  6. Translation50▲ 17×3 topics
  7. Genetic Code50▲ 42×2 topics
  8. RNA Structure49▲ 55×1 topic
  9. Ribosome49▲ 55×1 topic
  10. Innate Immunity48▲ 9.1×11 topics
  11. Cancer Therapy48▲ 5.0×17 topics
  12. Metabolic Regulation47▲ 17×5 topics
  13. Transcription Factors47▲ 23×5 topics
  14. Cancer Progression45▲ 15×8 topics
  15. Epigenetic Regulation44▲ 12×6 topics
  16. Insulin Signaling44▲ 31×4 topics
  17. Alternative Splicing43▲ 50×1 topic
  18. RNA-Binding Proteins43▲ 50×1 topic
  19. Neuronal Circuits43▲ 34×2 topics
  20. Immunity42▲ 6.3×9 topics
  21. Chromatin41▲ 52×2 topics
  22. Genomics40▲ 8.1×10 topics
  23. Stem Cells39▲ 9.3×15 topics
  24. Aging38▲ 4.2×13 topics
  25. Neurological Disorders38▲ 4.0×18 topics
  26. Vaccine37▲ 5.5×11 topics
  27. Gene Expression Regulation37▲ 20×3 topics
  28. RNA-Seq35▲ 19×2 topics
  29. RNA methylation35▲ 24×1 topic
  30. m6A-seq35▲ 24×1 topic
  31. Signal Transduction32▲ 13×7 topics
  32. Genome Engineering32▲ 30×1 topic
  33. RNA-Guided32▲ 30×1 topic
  34. Epigenetics32▲ 45×3 topics
  35. Drosophila31▲ 44×2 topics
  36. Membrane Proteins31▲ 26×3 topics
  37. Cell Death30▲ 7.8×6 topics
  38. Olfactory System29▲ 28×2 topics
  39. Histone Modifications29▲ 72×1 topic
  40. Transcription29▲ 72×1 topic

Which research topics does Howard Hughes Medical Institute publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms, RNA Research and Splicing, RNA modifications and cancer and CRISPR and Genetic Engineering.

RNA and protein synthesis mechanisms: 49 fractional worksRNA Research and Splicing: 43 fractional worksRNA modifications and ca…35RNA modifications and cancer: 35 fractional worksCRISPR and Genetic Engin…32CRISPR and Genetic Engineering: 32 fractional worksGenomics and Chromatin Dynamics: 29 fractional worksNeurobiology and Insect Physiology Research: 25 fractional worksSingle-cell and spatial …20Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics: 20 fractional worksNeuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research: 18 fractional worksImmune Cell Function and Interaction: 17 fractional worksGenetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model Organisms: 17 fractional works
Molecular BiologyCellular and Molecular NeuroscienceImmunologyAging

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 RNA and protein synthesis mechanismsMolecular Biology 49 works
  2. 2 RNA Research and SplicingMolecular Biology 43 works
  3. 3 RNA modifications and cancerMolecular Biology 35 works
  4. 4 CRISPR and Genetic EngineeringMolecular Biology 32 works
  5. 5 Genomics and Chromatin DynamicsMolecular Biology 29 works
  6. 6 Neurobiology and Insect Physiology ResearchCellular and Molecular Neuroscience 25 works
  7. 7 Single-cell and spatial transcriptomicsMolecular Biology 20 works
  8. 8 Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology ResearchCellular and Molecular Neuroscience 18 works
  9. 9 Immune Cell Function and InteractionImmunology 17 works
  10. 10 Genetics, Aging, and Longevity in Model OrganismsAging 17 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world’s own shares — the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available63.3%not open36.7%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors17.4%domestic only82.6%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has Howard Hughes Medical Institute's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 33% lower than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Other research institutions in Chevy Chase

All research institutions in Chevy Chase

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.