University of Colorado at Boulder Assistant Professor Michael Stowell has received a three-year, $900,000 award from the National Institutes of Health for a unique research project targeting brain cell communication.
Stowell's research is focused on molecular structures that facilitate communication between neurons at the chemical synapse. A faculty member in the molecular, cellular and developmental biology department since 2002, he is particularly interested in the structure and arrangement of signaling molecules involved in learning and memory and how such molecules are altered in neurological diseases.
Stowell's grant was part of $42.2 million in NIH funding going to 38 innovative research projects selected as potentially having an extraordinarily significant impact on many areas of science. The grants, awarded through the Exceptional, Unconventional Research Enabling Knowledge Acceleration program, or EUREKA, help investigators test novel, often unconventional hypotheses or tackle major methodological or technical challenges.
"EUREKA projects promise remarkable outcomes that could revolutionize science," said NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni. "The program reflects NIH's commitment to supporting potentially transformative research, even if it carries a greater than usual degree of scientific risk."