"A notoriously shrinking nationwide research funding market is making it increasingly difficult to secure grants for innovative research. But for the third time in two years, the efforts of a College of Engineering assistant professor of biomedical engineering to make better tools to study the brain have been rewarded.
In March 2011, Xue Han won a 2011 Sloan Research Fellowship, which provides $50,000 in research support over two years. Last August, she was chosen for one of three Peter Paul Fellowships, which give promising BU junior faculty members $40,000 annually for three years to pursue their research.
And today, Han, who uses pulses of light to control brain cells and discern their influence on attention, memory, and decision-making, was named a Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences by the Pew Charitable Trusts. The award brings $240,000 over four years and will help Han expand her work.
. . .
In fact, both the early stage and the potential payoff of Han’s research worked in her favor during Pew’s selection process. 'We encourage high-risk, high-reward projects,' says Anita Pepper, manager of the Pew Scholars program. 'To us, it’s not about seeing results tomorrow. It’s about what she’s done for the field and where that might lead 15 years down the line.'"
- Date added:
- Jun 15, 2012
- Project:
- Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences
- Topic:
- Biomedical Research
- Related Expert:
- Anita Pepper
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