In the News
Scientific American featured appetite-suppressing research by Rob Doyle (chemistry).
America Magazine profiled Mary Karr, Jesse Truesdell Peck Professor of Literature (Creative Writing)
The Chronicle of Higher Education featured an op-ed piece by David Yaffe (English) on 20th-century American poetry
A Success magazine feature on primatologist Jane Goodall extensively quotes Dean Emerita Cathryn R. Newton.
BBC News highlighted research by Jason Fridley (biology) on invasive plants. Science 360 and other media also covered the story
National Public Radio interviewed Dana Spiotta (Creative Writing) about her recent book, Stone Arabia.
Biologist garners highly competitive National Institutes of Health grant
Katharine Lewis studies spinal cord nerve cells
NIH exploratory grants are intended to encourage novel research that breaks new ground or extends previous discoveries toward new directions or applications.
Spinal cord nerve cells acquire characteristics that are specific for particular functions. Some cells specialize in gathering sensory information (touch, pain, hot, cold), while others specialize in movement. Those that control movement include motor neurons, which tell muscles to contract or expand; and interneurons, which process information related to movement and locomotion. In effect, interneurons are the local computers for motor neurons.
“While a number of these genes have been found, we don’t know if they are the most important genes for the processes or what percentage of the genes have been identified,” Lewis says. “This critical gap in our knowledge dramatically impedes our ability to treat spinal cord injuries and diseases that affect movement.”
Lewis was appointed to The College’s Department of Biology in 2010. She also holds an appointment in the Graduate Faculty Organization at the State University of New York Upstate Medical University. Prior to her SU appointment, she was a Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Department of Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. The highly competitive fellowship is awarded to outstanding, early-to-mid-career scientists who demonstrate a potential to become leaders in their field.
Lewis holds a Ph.D. from University College of London, and has been a Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge University. Other honors include a National Endowment for Science, Technology, and the Arts Crucible Fellowship, a five-year term as an elective committee member of the British Society of Developmental Biology, and a Wellcome International Prize Traveling Research Fellowship.
---------------------------------------------Contact InformationJudy Holmes |
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AS Magazine, Fall 2012
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