From Autism to Diabetes to Parkinson's Disease: Pew Funds 22 Early-Career Scientists to Take Calculated Risks

Press Releases and Statements June 13, 2013 Read time:

Projects: Pew Biomedical Scholars

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Philadelphia (June 13, 2013)—Twenty-two of the nation's most enterprising researchers were named Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences by The Pew Charitable Trusts today. 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. The new scholars join a prestigious community of researchers who have gone on to become Nobel laureates, MacArthur fellows, Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award winners, and hundreds of other pioneers who earned Pew grants at the start of their careers.

“The Pew scholars program gives innovative scientists both the freedom to take calculated risks and the resources to pursue the most promising, but untried, avenues for scientific breakthroughs,” said Rebecca W. Rimel, president and CEO of Pew. “Pew funding provides an ‘insurance policy,' allowing our scientists to be adventurous with their research. Though their scientific fields are diverse, their commitment is uniform: harnessing scientific discovery to improve human health.”

The scholars program, launched in 1985, has granted more than $120 million in funding to more than 500 scientists at the beginning of their independent careers. The rigorously competitive program awards recipients $240,000 over four years to pursue their projects without direction or restriction. To be considered, applicants must demonstrate excellence and creativity in their research. This year, 179 institutions were invited to nominate a candidate, and 134 eligible nominations were received.

“Now more than ever, young scientists need the support to pursue untested leads,” said Craig C. Mello, Ph.D., a 1995 Pew scholar and a 2006 Nobel laureate in physiology or medicine. “I am confident that these gifted scholars will make tremendous contributions to science. Their work will provide the world with new knowledge and tools to do tomorrow what seems impossible today.”

Pew also directs the Pew Latin American Fellows Program in the Biomedical Sciences, which for 22 years has provided support to young Latin American scientists receiving postdoctoral training in the United States.

The 2013 Pew biomedical scholars are:

Hillel Adesnik, Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley Neuroscience	April Kloxin, Ph.D. University of Delaware Bioengineering and integrative biology
Mark Andermann, Ph.D. Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Neuroscience	Fei Li, Ph.D. New York University Gene regulation and chromatin biology
Bo Chen, Ph.D. Yale University Neuroscience	Shelly Peyton, Ph.D. University of Massachusetts, Amherst Bioengineering and cancer biology
Claudio Giraudo, Ph.D. The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Cell biology and immunology	Manu Prakash, Ph.D. Stanford University Bioengineering and insect ecology
Andrew Goodman, Ph.D. Yale University Microbiology	Avital Rodal, Ph.D. Brandeis University Neuroscience
Viviana Gradinaru, Ph.D. California Institute of Technology Neuroscience	June Round, Ph.D. University of Utah Microbiology and immunology
Sergei Grivennikov, Ph.D. Fox Chase Cancer Center Cancer biology and immunology	Alexander Sobolevsky, Ph.D. Columbia University Biochemistry and molecular biophysics
Andrew Huberman, Ph.D. University of California, San Diego Developmental neurobiology	Leo Wan, Ph.D. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Bioengineering
Suckjoon Jun, Ph.D. University of California, San Diego Quantitative and physical biology	Ilana Witten, Ph.D. Princeton University Neuroscience
Shingo Kajimura, Ph.D. University of California, San Francisco Developmental biology and metabolism	Qi Wu, Ph.D. University of Iowa Neuroscience and energy metabolism
Jeffrey Kidd, Ph.D. University of Michigan Genomics	Qiaobing Xu, Ph.D. Tufts University Bioengineering

For information regarding the scholars' research, please visit http://directory.pewscholars.org/.

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The Pew Charitable Trusts (www.pewtrusts.org) is driven by the power of knowledge to solve today's most challenging problems. Pew applies a rigorous, analytical approach to improve public policy, inform the public, and stimulate civic life. We partner with a diverse range of donors, public and private organizations, and concerned citizens who share our commitment to fact-based solutions and goal-driven investments to improve society.