Author: Julie Pryor
Flythrough animation of the mouse brain
Flythrough of image data collected from mouse hippocampus, with neurons expressing Yellow Fluorescent Protein, showing both the large volume accessible with Expansion Microscopy (ExM) and the sub-diffraction limited resolution needed to reveal synaptic structure. Animation by Sputnik Animation based on data from Ed Boyden Lab at MIT.
Translational Neuroscience Seminar Series
Secret Santa for Seniors
MIT researchers to win awards from the Society for Neuroscience
Three neuroscientists at MIT have been selected to receive awards from the Society for Neuroscience (SfN).
Tomaso Poggio, a founding member of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, will receive the Swartz Prize for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience; Feng Zhang, a member of the McGovern Institute and an assistant professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, will receive the Young Investigator Award; and Sung-Yon Kim, a Simons postdoctoral fellow of the Life Sciences Research Foundation at MIT, will receive the Donald B. Lindsley Prize in Behavioral Neuroscience. The awards will be presented during Neuroscience 2014, the SfN’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
Swartz Prize for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience
The $25,000 Swartz Prize for Theoretical and Computational Neuroscience, supported by the Swartz Foundation, recognizes an individual who has produced a significant cumulative contribution to theoretical models or computational methods in neuroscience.
“Dr. Poggio’s contributions to the development of computational and theoretical models of the human visual system have served to advance our understanding of how human systems learn from experience,” said Carol Mason, president of SfN. “It is an honor to recognize him as a founder and driving force in the field of computational neuroscience.”
Poggio, the Eugene McDermott Professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and the director of the Center for Brains, Minds and Machines, develops computational models of the brain to understand human intelligence. Specifically, he has developed models that mimic the ways that humans learn to recognize objects, such as faces, and actions, such as motion — applications now present in digital cameras and some cars. Poggio is currently working to develop more complex models that mimic the forward as well as feedback signals that the human brain uses during visual recognition. The ultimate goal of this research is to better understand how the brain works and to apply this technology to build intelligent machines.
Young Investigator Award
The SfN has also named two winners of this year’s Young Investigator Award: Feng Zhang of MIT and Diana Bautista of the University of California at Berkeley.
The $15,000 award recognizes the outstanding achievements and contributions by a young neuroscientist who has recently received his or her advanced professional degree.
“Drs. Zhang and Bautista are two young neuroscientists who have demonstrated remarkable dedication to their work,” Mason said. “Their creative research is advancing their respective fields, and their commitment to helping other scientists succeed is an inspiration to us all.”
Zhang, who is also a core member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and the W. M. Keck Career Development Professor in Biomedical Engineering, uses synthetic biology methods to study brain disease. As a graduate student at Stanford University, Zhang was instrumental in advancing the development of optogenetic technology, which allows researchers to manipulate genetically modified neurons with light. More recently, Zhang was a leader in the development of the CRISPR-Cas9 method for genome editing – a powerful new technology with many applications in biomedical research, including the potential to treat human genetic disease.
Donald B. Lindsley Prize in Behavioral Neuroscience
The SfN will award the Donald B. Lindsley Prize to Sung-Yon Kim, a postdoc in Kwanghun Chung’s lab at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory.
Supported by The Grass Foundation, the prize recognizes an outstanding PhD thesis in the area of general behavioral neuroscience. Kim, who earned his PhD at Stanford University, used optogenetics to study the brain circuits underlying anxiety.
“The Society is pleased to honor Dr. Kim’s groundbreaking research in the neuroanatomical basis of anxiety behavior,” said Mason. “His approach to behavioral neuroscience will likely have a broad and lasting impact on biology and medicine.”
2014 Winter Clothing Drive
As winter and cold weather approaches, many people begin looking for opportunities to give back to their communities. The Thanksgiving season is a favorite time for charitable giving, and we encourage those looking to have a positive impact in someone’s life to lend us a hand in supporting CASPAR, a charitable neighbor of MIT right here in Cambridge.
CASPAR is a nonprofit organization that provides services to those affected by substance abuse disorders in Cambridge and Somerville. They have worked closely with MIT since 1994, when the Institute helped to build CASPAR’s Emergency Services Center (ESC) and Shelter on MIT property. Located just across the street from Ashdown, MIT’s oldest graduate residence, the ESC welcomes dozens of individuals struggling with drug use, alcohol abuse, and homelessness in from the cold. At the Center, CASPAR provides medical and mental health care, nutritional food, personal hygiene supplies, clean clothes, counseling, and employment housing and treatment referrals in an environment that is welcoming and safe.
Please join the McGovern Institute’s Winter Supply Collection Drive to benefit CASPAR. Our office has partnered with the MIT Office of Government and Community Relations and the Department of Facilities for this annual drive; we know that, together, we can continue MIT’s support of the work that CASPAR does for our community.
CASPAR is in need of gently used items such as: jeans, sweatshirts/fleeces, hats, gloves, winter boots, coats/vests, men’s belts, linens, twin-size blankets, towels, new socks, new undergarments, and new toiletries such as feminine products and packaged disposable razors. Larger sizes of all items are especially welcome. Drop off boxes will be located in McGovern Headquarters through Nov. 17.
Genome Editing with CRISPR – Cas9
This animation depicts the CRISPR-Cas9 method for genome editing – a powerful new technology with many applications in biomedical research, including the potential to treat human genetic disease. Feng Zhang, a leader in the development of this technology, is a faculty member at MIT, an investigator at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, and a core member of the Broad Institute.
Halloween Party 2014
Click on the thumbnails below to view more images from the Halloween party.
