The Howard Hughes Medical Institute has made a four-year, $1.6 million grant to The Jackson Laboratory to expand its course offerings in mammalian genetics, genomics and associated technologies.

The funding will support courses at the JAX headquarters campus in Bar Harbor and The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine in Farmington, Connecticut, targeting graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and professional scientists, according to a release from the nonprofit laboratory.

The grant will fund courses such as mouse genetics, analysis of mammalian microbiomes and behavioral analysis. One program will train professors from smaller colleges and regional universities to enhance their ability to integrate big data genomics into their undergraduate courses.

The laboratory also announced the election of a new chairman of its board of trustees. Technology investor David Roux was elected the new chairman, succeeding Lee Holt, who held the position for four years. Roux is the co-founder and senior director of Silver Lake, a global private equity firm. He has been a member of the trustees board since 2011.