Recipient   Baylor College of Medicine City   Houston, TX Description   To support Dr. Xander Wehren's work to define the mechanisms by which junctional membrane complexes regulate intracellular calcium release in normal and diseased hearts. Recipient   Harvard University City   Cambridge, MA Description   To support Dr. Amy Wager's work to identify blood borne rejuvenating factors and determine how they correct aged stem cell function. Recipient   Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center City   New York, NY Description   To support Dr. Jennifer Zallen's studies to identify the molecular mechanisms by which groups of cells coordinate their shape and movement to build the characteristic morphologies of tissues and organs. Recipient   University of California, San Francisco City   San Francisco, CA Description   To support Dr. Wallace Marshall's studies to understand how cilia assemble and function with the goal of learning ways to diagnose and treat ciliary diseases. Recipient   University of Massachusetts Medical School City   Worcester, MA Description   To support Dr. Job Dekker's work to map networks of interactions between all genes to unravel the logic of long-range gene regulation by identifying which elements regulate each gene in normal and disease states. Recipient   Johns Hopkins University City   Baltimore, MD Description   To support Dr. Seth Blackshaw's work to identify the molecules that determine how functionally distinct retinal cell types become different from one another during embryonic development. Recipient   Northwestern University City   Evanston, IL Description   To support Dr. Luis N. Amaral's work to develop new mathematical and computational tools necessary to glean the important information on a given biological system. Recipient   University of California, San Diego City   La Jolla, CA Description   To support Dr. Amy Pasquinelli's work to study the central problem of how microRNAs regulate specific target genes. Recipient   University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas City   Dallas, TX Description   To support Dr. Russell DeBose-Boyd's work to understand how newly discovered Insig proteins control stability and thereby limit synthesis of cholesterol. Recipient   Yale University City   New Haven, CT Description   To support Dr. Jonathan S. Bogan's work to understand how extracellular stimuli regulate protein trafficking and ubiquitin-like modification. Recipient   University of California, Berkeley City   Berkeley, CA Description   Dr. Lu Chen has developed a novel hybrid cell system to explore how signaling proteins interact at nerve synapses. A variety of experimental methods will control which proteins interact. Such research could point the way toward creating functional synapses that might reverse conditions such as age-related cognitive decline. Recipient   University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill City   Chapel Hill, NC Description   Dr. Brian Kuhlman uses computational methods to design novel proteins to engage in specific Molecular interactions. The system will allow him to test whether synthetic antibody-like proteins could be custom made to target a specific pathogen but remain chemically stable like an oral medicine. Recipient   Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research City   Cambridge, MA Description   Dr. David Sabatini investigates the metabolic adaptations that allow solid tumors to survive in a nutrient- and oxygen-poor environment and permit many cancers to evade treatment. He will also test how these adaptive mechanisms interact with genes that cause or suppress tumors. The research could lead to treatments to boost the effectiveness of other cancer therapies or prevent recurrences. Recipient   Stanford University City   Stanford, CA Description   Dr. Kang Shen studies how the nervous system forms at a molecular level during development. He plans to piece together the sequence of action by which dendrites are attracted to form synapses. This will be a necessary step in understanding degenerative neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease. Recipient   Harvard University City   Cambridge, MA Description   Dr. Gavin MacBeath studies the biochemical signals that cells use to communicate with each other. He plans to map out the interactions involving one family of proteins and study how interruptions of individual proteins affect the chemical signaling. Recipient   Princeton University City   Princeton, NJ Description   Dr. Samuel Wang is using methods he recently developed to study the design and function of the cerebellum, which coordinates sensory and motor functions in the brain. With a fundamental understanding of cerebellar dysfunction he hopes to develop insights into movement disorders, such as those associated with autism. Recipient   Scripps Research Institute City   La Jolla, CA Description   Dr. Elizabeth Winzeler is identifying the genes that are active in every life phase of the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. Knowing which genes turn on at specific stages of the infection cycle will better explain the host-parasite relationship and may lead toward new treatments. Recipient   University of California, San Francisco City   San Francisco, CA Description   Dr. Jeffery Cox studies how the bacterium that causes tuberculosis evades the immune system. He will examine how a particular family of proteins alters the immune response of infected persons and whether these proteins could be promising targets for new treatments. Recipient   University of Chicago City   Chicago, IL Description   Dr. Chuan He has developed a novel method for stabilizing interactions between DNA and the proteins that repair genetic defects. He will apply this technique to understand how DNA damage leads to cancer with hopes of developing new treatments or preventatives. Recipient   Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center City   Seattle, WA Description   To support Dr. Adrian Ferre-D'Amere's studies to explore the range of capabilities of RNA, one of the two classes of giant molecules that sustain life by analyzing the of test-tube evolved exemplars. Recipient   Rockefeller University City   New York, NY Description   To support Dr. F. Nina Papavasiliou's studies to understand why high levels of mutations, which are normally thought of as detrimental to the body, are not only beneficial, but actually necessary for the generation of antibodies with exquisite specificity toward antigens. Recipient   University of Texas Southwestern Medical City   Dallas, TX Description   To support Dr. Hongtao Yu's studies on how a dividing animal cell partitions its DNA molecules evenly between the two daughters and how errors in this process lead to cancer. Recipient   University of Washington City   Seattle, WA Description   To support Dr. Daniel Chiu's work to elucidate the mechanism by which neural systems encode and process information by deciphering the quantized chemical messages released by neurons during neuronal communications. Recipient   Yale University City   New Haven, CT Description   To support Dr. Kevin White's work to combine computational and experimental methods to analyze how complex networks of genes control animal development. Recipient   Emory University City   Atlanta, GA Description   To support Dr. Randy Hall's studies on how molecular interactions provide mechanistic explanations for unexplained physiological responses induced by neurotransmitters and hormones. Recipient   Northwestern University City   Evanston, IL Description   To support Dr. Catherine Woolley's studies on understanding how estrogen influences the aging process in brain circuitry related to cognition and may protect against Alzheimer's disease. Recipient   Stanford University City   Stanford, CA Description   To support Dr. Kenan Garcia's studies to visualize the three-dimensional shapes of a large family of physiologically-vital gatekeeper proteins on cell surfaces, which communicate information and genetic instructions from the outside to the inside of a cell. Recipient   University of Massachusetts Worcester City   Worcester, MA Description   To support Dr. Phillip Zamore's studies to investigate the molecular basis of the RNAi phenomenon and develop this knowledge into a potential therapy for human disease. Recipient   Washington University in St. Louis City   St. Louis, MO Description   To support Dr. Aaron DiAntonio's studies to identify molecules and mechanisms that help nerve cells form connections and communicate in the healthy brain in hopes of better understanding how these events go awry in the diseased brain. Recipient   Harvard University City   Cambridge, MA Description   To support Dr. Xi He's research on the molecular mechanisms that govern communication between cells during embryogenesis and tumor formation. Recipient   Johns Hopkins University City   Baltimore, MD Description   To support Dr. Michael Caterina's research to identify those proteins that allow our nervous system to sense warm and cold environmental temperatures, as well as those that allow our bodies to maintain a healthy internal temperature. Recipient   University of California, Los Angeles City   Los Angeles, CA Description   To support Dr. Kelsey Martin's research into the fundamental mechanisms whereby nerve cells modify their individual connections with other nerve cells during learning and memory. Recipient   University of Virginia City   Charlottesville, VA Description   To support Dr. Barry Condron's research on how molecules control the formation of correct cell shape in the developing brain. Recipient   University of Wisconsin, Madison City   Madison, WI Description   To support Dr. Katrina Forest's research on the protein PilT, which is required for colonization and signaling in the context of infection. Science & Engineering Medical Research Liberal Arts Southern California Program Distinguished Young Scholars in Medical Research