News

MCDB Researchers Awarded Federal Stimulus Funds

MCDB researchers have been awarded $1,720,483 in federal stimulus package research grants. The research funds were included in the $787 billion federal economic stimulus package approved in February, known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Professor Steven Clark, Assistant Professor Catherine Collins, Professor Robert Denver, and Professor and Chair Pamela Raymond received the grants to assist in advancing their work.

These grants will support a variety of advanced research projects, including studies of how cellular signaling affects stem-cell fate in the Arabidopsis plant; using in vivo imaging of axonal transport with a spinning disk laser confocal microscope (a technology that is the first of its kind on campus) to probe growth and regeneration of nerve fibers in Drosophila; studying environmental degradation as measured by declines in the health of amphibian populations; and understanding the molecular basis for regeneration of photoreceptor neurons using zebrafish as a model system. Assisted by these stimulus awards, MCDB will continue its leadership role in biological research.