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10/27/2008 - McNulty Scientist and Emerging Scholars Awards Announced The Chesapeake Civitan McNulty Scientist award is given each year in honor of the McNulty family. Tom and Mary McNulty and their son Tommy were the driving force behind the creation of the Civitan International Research Center and the research focus of Civitan International Foundation. This year the awardees were honored with a reception held at the Pittman Center, Thursday, October 23. The recipient of the 2008-2009 McNulty Distinguished Scientist award is Dr. Rajesh Kana. Dr. Kana is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology and a recent recruit to UAB and the Civitan International Research Center (CIRC). Dr. Kana's research focuses on functional magnetic resonance imaging to show brain connectivity during specific tasks in autism spectrum disorders. The CIRC awarded four Emerging Scholars awards in the amount of $25,000 each. This years recipients are Dr. Gaston Calfa (postdoc, Dept. of Neurobiology, Lucas Pozo-Miller mentor), Dr. Nola-Jean Ernest (postdoc, Dept. of Pediatrics, Dr. Sue Spiller mentor), Dr. Tania Roth (postdoc, Dept. of Neurobiology, Dr. David Sweatt, mentor) and Elizabeth Lucas (PhD graduate student, Dept. of Psychology, Dr. Rita Cowell, mentor). Dr. Calfa's project focuses on epilepsy in the Rett Syndrome mouse model, a disorder that affects girls and is one of the autism spectrum disorders. Medulloblastoma, is the most common brain tumor in children that can lead to aberrant development in the cerebellum and lifelong complications. Dr. Ernest will investigate the role of ion channels and their significance in this disorder. Dr. Roth's work as a graduate student showed that DNA methylation can control synaptic plasticity and memory formation. She is further developing this work to look at the role of DNA methylation in lasting chages in brain neurochemistry caused by childhood neglect and abuse. Elizabeth Lucas will study the role of transcriptional regulation of parvalbumin-containing interneurons and their role in disorders such as schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorders, and Tourette's syndrome. Congratulations to all of the recipients of the McNulty and Emerging Scholars Awards. The CIRC strives to encourage research careers in neurodevelopmental disorders in new and junior investigators through financial, core facilities and technical support. | |||
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