|
 |
|
||
|
||
|
 |
||||||||
|
|
Here's recent news related to current and former Searle Scholars. Scholars: if you have any information you would like to contribute, please send it by e-mail to Doug Fambrough. 1/17/2008 CHICAGO, ILLINOIS—The Searle Scholars Program announces a major increase in awards, from $240,000 to $300,000 per three year grant beginning with its 2008 awards. The program will continue to make 15 such awards each year. The increase will ensure that these awards continue to provide exceptionally creative and productive young scientists with sufficient funds to work on their best ideas. These prestigious awards remain among the top monetary awards in chemistry and the biomedical sciences. Since the program began in 1981, 437 Searle Scholars have received awards totaling over $84 million. In selecting the Scholars, a Scientific Advisory Board of twelve distinguished scientists identifies individuals who have already done innovative research and have the potential for making pivotal contributions to biological research over an extended period of time. The funds that support the awards come from trusts established under the wills of John G. and Frances C. Searle. Mr. Searle was President of G.D. Searle & Co., of Skokie, Illinois, a research-based pharmaceutical company. Mr. and Mrs. Searle expressed the wish that some of the proceeds of their estates be used for the support of research in medicine, chemistry, and the biomedical sciences. In 1980, members of the Searle family, acting as Consultants to the Trustees of the Trusts established under the wills of Mr. & Mrs. John G. Searle, recommended the development of a program of support for young biomedical scientists. This idea evolved into the Searle Scholars Program, which is funded through the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust and administered by Kinship Foundation in Northbrook, Illinois. More information about the Searle Scholars Program may be found on the Internet at http://www.searlescholars.net. ### EDITORS For more information about the Searle Scholars Program please contact Douglas Fambrough, Scientific Director, Searle Scholars Program, at 410.321.8322 or the program's website, http://www.searlescholars.net 9/26/2007 "Michael Elowitz is a molecular biologist who is laying the groundwork for the next stage in the genomics revolution – understanding how genes interact. To do so, Elowitz employs a strategy of designing artificial genetic "circuits," first modeling them computationally and then introducing the elements in vivo to test their activity. Experimenting with the first synthetic biological oscillator, he surprised many by demonstrating that even relatively simple negative feedback genetic regulation loops can generate complex behavior within a cell. His work revealed that, because of the low concentration of effector molecules, concepts familiar in electronics such as noise and bistability also find currency in explaining gene regulation. In another critical experiment, Elowitz showed that when two reporter genes with identical regulatory elements were engineered into bacteria they expressed themselves differently and that these differences were due to both intrinsic and extrinsic noise. More recently, he investigated the regulation of a complex stage in normal cellular differentiation of bacilli known as "competence" in which they are temporarily able to incorporate DNA from their external environment. Evidence from imaging studies and mathematical modeling suggest that the underlying genetic circuit consists of both positive and negative feedback loops. Through these and other studies, Elowitz is addressing the long-standing question of how cells can maintain a well-regulated state in a complex and noisy environment. Michael Elowitz received a B.A. (1992) from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. (1999) from Princeton University. Since 2003, he has served as an assistant professor of biology and as an applied physics Bren Scholar at the California Institute of Technology. His numerous articles have appeared in such journals as Science, Nature, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA." Previous MacArthur awards have gone to Searle Scholars Joe DeRisi, Pehr Harbury, Richard Mulligan, David Page, Geraldine Seydoux, Xiaowei Zhuang and Ken Catania Related Links: 9/22/2007 The awards were established in 1999 "to give the nation's most promising young scientists the resources they need to pursue potentially breakthrough research projects in biomedicine." Each year since 1999, the program has given annual grants of up to $1 million to four or five junior faculty investigators at leading research universities and institutions. Former recipients of these Keck awards include Searle Scholars Mike Caterina, Phyllis Hanson, Chuan He, Brian Kuhlman, Nina Papavasiliou, Amy Pasquinelli and Kang Shen. Related Links:
Erin
J. Adams Michael
A. Beer Julie
Magarian Blander Sean
F. Brady William
M. Clemons, Jr. Or
P. Gozani Wesley
B. Grueber Christopher
J. Lowe Dariush
Mozaffarian Gia
K. Voeltz Orion
D. Weiner Sarah
M.N. Woolley Joanna
K. Wysocka Mark
J. Zylka |
||||||
 |
| SCHOLAR NETWORK | NEWS | EVENTS | APPLY | PROGRAM HISTORY | CONTACT | HOME |
Questions about/problems with this site? Please e-mail the webmaster. © Copyright 2007 Kinship Foundation. All rights reserved. |
