From Autism to Diabetes to Parkinson's Disease: Pew Funds 22 Early-Career Scientists to Take Calculated Risks
Twenty-two of the nation’s most enterprising researchers were named Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences by The Pew Charitable Trusts for 2013. The scholarships provide flexible funding to early-career scientists researching the basis of perplexing health problems such as diabetes, autism, Parkinson’s disease, and cancer. Learn more about the scientists and their research.
More info1995 Pew Scholar Explains “The Reward for Solving Puzzles”
In this video from Harvard Medical School, Stephen Buratowski – a 1995 Pew scholar and professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology – explains his research in gene expression and the allure of scientific puzzles.
More infoSeven Pew Scholars Named HHMI Investigators
On May 9, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) announced that 27 of the nation’s top biomedical researchers—including seven Pew scholars—will become HHMI investigators and will receive the flexible support necessary to move their research in creative new directions. The Pew scholars named HHMI investigators are Peter Baumann (2003), Michael Dyer (2004), Nicole King (2004), Tirin Moore (2004), Dyche Mullins (2000), Michael Rape (2007), and Rachel Wilson (2005).
More info1990 Pew Scholar James Lupski Elected into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
James Lupski, a 1990 Pew scholar and The Cullen Endowed Chair in Molecular Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine, has been elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The academy announced 198 new members April 24, including leaders from academia, business, public affairs, and the humanities.
More info2009 Pew Biomedical Scholar Charles Mullighan Helps Identify Mutations Linked to Brain Tumors
2009 Pew Biomedical Scholar Charles Mullighan was part of a research team at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital which recently found mutations responsible for more than half of a subtype of childhood brain tumors. Their paper in Nature Genetics pinpointed alterations in two genes that increased the risk of low-grade gliomas—the most common childhood tumors of the brain and spinal cord—and identified an existing drug as a possible treatment.
More info2012 Pew Scholar Earns ARI Young Investigator Grant
Salil Lachke, a 2012 Pew scholar and assistant professor of biological sciences at the University of Delaware, has been selected by the Alcon Research Institute as a 2013 Young Investigator. As one of just eight researchers worldwide to receive the $50,000 grant, Dr. Lachke will continue his work on an online tool he created to discover genes related to glaucoma and other eye diseases.
More info2011 Pew Scholar awarded $1.13 million from NIH
Jeff Gore, a 2011 Pew Scholar and assistant professor of physics at MIT, has been awarded a four-year, $1,131,603 grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences – one of the 27 National Institutes of Health – to pursue research into cooperation and cheating in the evolution of antibiotic resistance in bacteria.
More info2009 Pew Scholar Shows Cells Can Naturally “Reprogram” Themselves
Ben Stanger, a 2009 Pew scholar and assistant professor at University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine, has demonstrated that cells can change their identities under normal conditions in the body. In a study published in Genes and Development, Dr. Stanger pinpointed the gene that allows the main type of liver cells in mammals to convert into the cells lining bile ducts.
More info1991 Pew Scholar Wins Prestigious Gairdner Award
One of the six recipients of the 2013 Canada Gairdner International Awards is Stephen Elledge, a 1991 Pew Scholar and Gregor Mendel Professor of Genetics and of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. With the $100,000 prize, Dr. Elledge will study the DNA damage response—a signaling pathway that allows cells to repair themselves when DNA is impaired. More info2011 Pew Scholar is One of ''America's Best and Brightest Minds''
In celebration of what would have been Albert Einstein’s 134th birthday, FoxNews.com ran an article highlighting young researchers, including 2011 Pew scholar Ann Morris. Thanks to her creative research on vision in zebrafish, Dr. Morris was mentioned among scientists who are “poised to change the way we live today, and will continue to influence our culture in the coming decades.
More info2012 Scholar Profiled in National Geographic
Dinu Florin Albeanu, a 2012 Pew Scholar, was profiled in National Geographic’s “Only Human” series, which highlighted his success as a Romanian scientist. Having lived in Bucharest for most of his life, Dr. Albeanu recognizes the challenges facing Romania’s scientific enterprise. Since relocating to the United States, the assistant professor of neurology at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory has co-founded a summer program for aspiring neurologists in Romania. More info
2011 Pew Scholar Wins Paul Allen Distinguished Investigators Award to Unlock Fundamental Questions in Biology
Jeff Gore, 2011 Pew Scholar and assistant professor of physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has won the Paul Allen Distinguished Investigators Award to Unlock Fundamental Questions in Biology. The award, announced today by the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, provides $7.5 million in exploratory grant funding to a carefully selected group of scientists who will embark on five new pioneering research projects that aim to unlock fundamental questions in biology. Dr. Gore will use single-celled yeast to explore how ideas from game theory can provide insight into cellular decision making.
More info2007 Pew Scholar Wins The Vilcek Prize
Dr. Michael "Micha" Rape, a 2007 Pew Scholar, has been named winner of The Vilcek Prize for Creative Promise in Biomedical Science for his work on ubiquitination, a process which "tags" damaged or bad proteins for destruction, as it relates to many diseases, including cancer or neurodegeneration.
More info2009 Pew Scholar Identifies “Molecular Master Switch” for Pancreatic Cancer
Ben Stanger, named a Pew biomedical Scholar in 2009, co-authored a paper in Genes and Development describing a master regulator protein, which may explain the development of aberrant cell growth in the pancreas spurred by inflammation.
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