Brandeis scientist named HHMI fellow
January 8, 2025

Julianne Pelaez, Brandeis postdoctoral fellow
Brandeis researcher Julianne Pelaez, a postdoctoral associate in biology, has been awarded the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s prestigious Hanna Gray Fellowship. The award, which will provide Pelaez to $1.5 million over the course of up to eight years, will support her work studying insect gustatory receptors, the specialized cells that let them taste food and other substances.
Understanding how insects sense chemicals in their food and their environments, she says, could have tremendous ecological, economic and human health impacts — and could potentially lead to a way of preventing the spread of insect-borne infectious diseases.
Pelaez will join 24 other outstanding early career scientists from across the nation who have demonstrated a commitment to making foundational discoveries while building an inclusive culture in academic science.
“HHMI is committed to investing in scientists who dare to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our lifetime,” says HHMI Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer Leslie Vosshall. “Our Hanna Gray Fellows are not only exceptional scientists, but they are also leaders who have proven their dedication to creating a more inclusive future for science.”
“This recognition is an incredible honor,” Pelaez says. “Professionally, it serves as validation that the research that we are doing is not only interesting but important — and that the work I am doing as a mentor and leader in my scientific community is valued. It has also meant a lot to me personally, as someone who comes from humble beginnings and never imagined they could have a career as a scientist. I hope to use this fellowship to support many other young scientists in pursuit of similar dreams and goals.”
In addition to Pelaez, this year’s cohort includes scientists working in a wide range of areas, from treatment-resistant cancers to sleep dysregulation to how animals evolved to live on land. Through their successful careers, the fellows will move science forward and will recruit, mentor, and inspire the next generation of scientists from all backgrounds.
Since the program’s founding in 2016, HHMI — the largest private biomedical research institution in the nation — has committed more than $190 million to the Hanna H. Gray Fellows Program by selecting over 140 fellows, more than 30 of whom are already running thriving, independent labs as faculty around the country. Two other Brandeis faculty members (Christopher Miller, emeritus and Nobel Laureate Michael Rosbash) are HHMI Investigators, and two additional faculty (Irving Epstein and Jané Kondev) serve as HHMI Medical Institute Professors.