Eliot Circular

Zebrafish and “Driver” Genes

Prof. Suzy Renn (left) won NSF grant.

Three Reed biology professors won significant grants this spring, continuing a remarkable string of success for the biology department.

Prof. Kara Cerveny [2012-] won an $80,000 grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to investigate neurogenesis—the process by which neurons are generated—in zebrafish. This is part of a collaborative grant with two other principal investigators at Whitworth University and Lewis & Clark College; the total amount awarded to all three institutions is $240,000. The Collaborative Research Alliance Pilot Initiative will establish a virtual “Center for Excellence” in the Pacific Northwest. The overall goal of this project is to study the mechanisms underlying cell specification behavior during neurogenesis in developing embryos.

Prof. Suzy Renn [2006-] won a $57,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to organize the BRAIN STEM workshop, which brought together professors and students from colleges around the nation to discuss the role of undergraduate research and education toward the national BRAIN Initiative.

Prof. Anna Ritz [2015-] won a $41,500 grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust to develop computational methods to identify “driver” genes whose mutations may be responsible for cancer progression.

These grants come on the heels of several others announced last year. Prof. Suzy Renn won a $618,000 grant from the NSF; Prof. Erik Zornik [2012-] won a $444,000 grant from the NIH; Prof. Todd Schlenke  [2013-] won a $373,000 grant from the NIH; and Prof. Jay Mellies [1999-] won a $362,769 grant from the NIH.