Research Wire

A multidisciplinary team at Washington University led by Hong Chen has developed a new brain stimulation technique using focused ultrasound that is able to turn specific types of neurons in the brain on and off and precisely control motor activity without surgical device implantation.

Hani Zaher, associate professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, won a four-year $1.2 million award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a project titled “Reading Frame Maintenance by the Ribosome during Stalling.”

The Office of Naval Research is funding research at the McKelvey School of Engineering to put cyborg locusts’ sense of smell to the test.

Linda J. Pike and Alexander S. Holehouse, in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics at the School of Medicine, and Gary J. Patti, in Arts & Sciences and the School of Medicine, received a four-year grant totaling $1.45 million from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The Department of Defense has awarded Mark Meacham and Arpita Bose a three-year $600,000 grant. The researchers will work to understand extracellular electron uptake in bacteria.

Joseph A. Fournier, assistant professor of chemistry in Arts & Sciences, won a CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation. Fournier’s research program focuses on characterizing the dynamics and mechanisms of fast chemical reactions.

David Fike, professor of earth and planetary sciences and director of environmental studies, both in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, won a $98,406 EAGER Grant from the National Science Foundation for a project in geobiology and low-temperature geochemistry.

The School of Medicine received a $1.3 million grant from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to support the work of Parakkal Deepak, MBBS, and Alfred H.J. Kim, MD, PhD. They will study antibody responses after vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 in patients with inflammatory bowel disease and other autoimmune diseases.

Some plants like ginkgo trees have either male or female flowers, not both. Susanne Renner, honorary professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, reviewed the genetic basis of sex determination in plants for Nature Plants and will guest-edit a special issue of a Royal Society journal on the topic.

The Bellwether Foundation Inc. has awarded Olin Business School and the Brookings Institution a $750,000 grant to improve the quality of life for people in St. Louis and across the country.