In The News
29 September 2026
Rapidly Evolving Aphid Proteins Share a Common Structural Blueprint
From Technology Networks: The Stern Lab reveals a shared structural blueprint among thousands of rapidly evolving aphid proteins.
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News
Celebrating 21 years of the Stowers Institute
The Stowers Institute for Medical Research to mark the 21st anniversary of the opening of its research campus
The Stowers Institute for Medical Research announced plans to mark the 21st anniversary of the opening of its research campus with a series of celebrations over the coming months.
The Institute was formally established in 1994 by Jim and Virginia Stowers. In 1995, the Institute purchased the former 10-acre Menorah Medical Center campus in Kansas City, Missouri. After five years of construction, the Stowers Institute research campus officially opened in November 2000.
Jim and Virginia Stowers
The Institute is celebrating 21 years by highlighting six themes representing key components of the Institute's success: the Institute’s founders, campus, people, scientific research, training programs, and connections to related organizations. Details of these themes will be shared on the Stowers website and the Institute’s Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn social media accounts. The series will culminate in a final celebration inclusive of all six themes.
Celebrating Our Founders
The first theme is Celebrating Our Founders, Jim and Virginia Stowers. Our founders’ vision grew from their long-standing dream of helping people. Through American Century Investments, founded by Jim, they helped people improve their financial security. Later on, after each had a bout with cancer, they decided to help people suffering from life-threatening diseases. The legacy of Jim and Virginia Stowers is the incredible generosity and concern for others demonstrated by contributing the vast majority of their wealth to the advancement of science and giving others hope for life.
Learn more about our extraordinary founders Jim and Virginia Stowers in the following video slideshow highlighting photos and quotes from the past two decades and related stories.
Learn More About the Stowers Institute and Our Founders
A timeline of Stowers Institute organizational milestones
Bringing a mission to life – giving back something more valuable than money
Leaving an enduring legacy – the remarkable life of Jim Stowers Jr.
Celebrating a life of service – Virginia Stowers, a champion of hope
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Shared blueprint in aphid proteins helps AI predict their structures
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Stowers scientists uncover a hidden blueprint in aphids, providing a way to predict what AI couldn’t solve alone
In an evolutionary arms race with plants, aphids deploy thousands of rapidly evolving proteins. A team led by Stowers Institute and HHMI Investigator David Stern, Ph.D., discovered a shared architecture beneath them and revealed how evolution can help AI predict similar protein structures across biology.
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Stowers Institute and Stanford University study reveals a marine worm rebuilds its cellular identity during metamorphosis
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