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Biomedical Research News & Resources
Founding Member of Latin American Fellows Program Elected to National Academy of Sciences
Edward De Robertis, National Advisory Committee member and founding member of the Pew Latin American Fellows Program, has been elected into the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. De Robertis, a native of Uruguay, is the N. Sprague Professor of Biological Chemistry at University of California, Los Angeles School of Medicine and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute—best known for identifying genetic patterns conserved throughout evolution.
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 infoInterview with Pew Latin American Fellow Esteban Engel
An interview with Pew's 2011 Latin American Fellow Esteban Engel. 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 infoLearning How Genetic Seeds Are Sown
To understand how embryos develop, many researchers look to animal models such as worms and frogs. But Mary Gehring, a 2011 Pew Biomedical Scholar and assistant professor of biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, turns to plants—even weeds.
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