鈥淚 would not have become the scientist I am today were it not for my time at Cold Spring Harbor,鈥 says Anne Churchland. The pioneering neuroscientist has received the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) . Now at the University of California, Los Angeles, Churchland credits her time at 黑料吃瓜资源 (CSHL) with teaching her to pursue bold, risk-taking science. Today, her pursuits are paying off in spades. The Academy has recognized Churchland for her groundbreaking research on the neuroscience underlying sensory-guided behavior and decision-making.
The award includes a $50,000 donation from the NAS to support neuroscience research at an institution of her choice. Churchland has chosen to give it all to CSHL.
It was here that Churchland says she learned to 鈥減ush the envelope of what鈥檚 possible鈥 with powerful new tools and techniques for making measurements inside the brain. 鈥淚t was transformative, and I feel so grateful to have had that time there,鈥 she says. 鈥淪o, the chance to give back is really meaningful to me.鈥
Churchland first came to the Laboratory as a visiting scientist in 2009 at the invitation of CSHL Professor Tony Zador. While her work up until then had focused on non-human primates, there was a growing movement at CSHL and abroad to establish rodents as the preferred animal model for studying the brain.
鈥淎t the time, few were bold enough to make that kind of change in their careers,鈥 Zador says. 鈥淏ut Anne was sufficiently intrigued, and she spent the summer learning to train rodents on the tasks required for her research. Things worked well, and she decided to make the switch鈥攁 very bold move! She joined the faculty in 2010 and became one of the early people to help define the field.鈥
Mice are now widely considered the preferred models for human brain disorders. Chuchland鈥檚 early studies of sensory science helped move the field in this direction. Today, a new generation of CSHL neuroscientists is picking up where she left off.
The $50,000 donation will support Zarmeena Dawood, a young M.D.-Ph.D. student in CSHL鈥檚 Albeanu lab. Dawood focuses on how the brain processes smells. She is using BARseq, developed by the Zador lab, to map neural connections from the olfactory bulb to the rest of the brain.
鈥淚 am very excited to receive this gift,鈥 Dawood says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 so important to support students as we鈥檙e going through our training, because it takes a lot of hard work. I鈥檓 very grateful to Anne. And that it came from someone who also studied neuroscience at CSHL makes it even more wonderful.鈥
For Churchland, paying forward the fruits of her time at CSHL was a no-brainer.
鈥淥ne thing that鈥檚 special about CSHL is their support for students to follow the scientific direction they鈥檙e excited about,鈥 she says. 鈥淭hat is a tremendous intellectual freedom to have. I want that for the young scientists of the world. The chance to play a small part in that makes me really happy.鈥
Churchland will be honored in a ceremony on April 27 during the National Academy of Sciences鈥 162nd annual meeting. .
Written by: Nick Wurm, Communications Specialist | [email protected] | 516-367-5940