Congratulations to MGM faculty Debra Silver, Ph.D., on receiving the Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NINDS. The Javits Award (R37) is a conditional, seven-year research grant given to scientists for their superior competence and outstanding productivity. Javits Awards provide long-term support to investigators with a history of exceptional talent, imagination, and preeminent scientific achievement.
Dr. Silver’s research focuses on the genetic and cellular mechanisms that govern cerebral cortex development and their contribution to neurological disorders and brain evolution.
Dr. Silver's awarded project, "Distal mRNA localization and translation in neural stem cells of the developing brain," focuses on understanding the fundamental mechanism through which radial glia cells (RCGs) signal and organize surrounding cellular environment during brain development. RCGs are neural stem cells that generate neurons and glia in developing cerebral cortex. The overarching goal of this project is to elucidate how neural cells of the cerebral cortex are generated and organized and ultimately contribute to neurological disorders that arise in brain development, including intellectual disability, microcephaly, and autism.
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