Four UCSF postdoctoral scientists are among 58 selected to be the first recipients of a new kind of National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant designed to help young scientists during the most vulnerable time in their careers -- the transition from postdoctoral positions to faculty appointments.
The Pathway to Independence Program, announced by the NIH in January of this year, offers a new opportunity for promising postdoctoral scientists to receive both mentored and independent research support from the same award.
"New investigators provide energy, enthusiasm and ideas that propel the scientific enterprise towards greater discovery and push forward the frontiers of medical research," Elias A. Zerhouni, MD, NIH director, said in news release. "We hope that the Pathway to Independence is a bridge that will support new investigators at precisely the point between mentoring and independence that we have seen as a most vulnerable time in the career path. We must invest in the future of our new scientists today if we expect to meet the nation's health challenges of tomorrow."
Postdoctoral scholars usually can't receive NIH funding until they have secured a faculty position. Increasingly, they work many years as postdocs before they land their first academic post.
The NIH announced the new program to start to address this problem -- the first of three rounds of grants planned this fiscal year in the new Pathway to Independence Program. Read the NIH
news release.
The NIH received almost 900 applications and will issue between 150 and 200 awards in the first three rounds.
The four UCSF postdocs selected in the first round, their faculty adviser, department and research focus are:
- • Antonina Roll-Mecak, PhD, (Ron Vale,
PhD, cellular and molecular pharmacology): Elucidation of the biochemical
mechanisms and in vivo functions of spastin, a protein that cuts and disassembles
microtubules -- the structures that normally transport most vital cargo within
a cell;
- • Maya B.Schuldiner, PhD, (Jonathan Weissman,
PhD, cellular and molecular pharmacology): Using genetic interactions to explore
the mechanisms by which cells maintain a proper folding environment for proteins
within the endoplasmic reticulum;
- • Supriya Srinivasan, PhD, (Kaveh Ashrafi,
PhD, physiology): The role of serotonin in energy balance in the nematode
C. elegans
- • Bing Ye, PhD, (Yuh Nung Jan, PhD, physiology):
Differentiating dendrite development from axon development.
"In today's challenging budget environment, it is critical that NIH preserve the ability of young scientists with fresh ideas to enter the competitive world of NIH funding," said Zerhouni. "Nothing is more important."
For more information about the NIH Pathway to Independence Program,
visit here.
