Tyler O'Neal, Staff Editor SCIENCE

New York of Academy of Sciences announces 2020 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists honorees

Winning postdoctoral researchers include a neuroscientist improving memory formation and recall, an astrophysicist illuminating dark matter, and a biochemist refining gene-editing technologies

Today, during National Postdoc Appreciation Week, the Blavatnik Family Foundation and the New York Academy of Sciences announced the three Winners and six Finalists of the 2020 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists. The Blavatnik Regional Awards honor outstanding postdoctoral scientists from academic research institutions across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut and recognize researchers in three scientific categories: Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering, and Chemistry. A distinguished jury of leading scientists and engineers from across the New York region selects, in each category, one Winner, who is awarded a $30,000 unrestricted prize, and two Finalists, who are each awarded $10,000. For the 2020 competition, there were 154 outstanding nominations from 24 academic institutions in the New York metropolitan region (Tri-State area). The 2020 Blavatnik Regional Awards Winners and Finalists will be honored alongside the 2020 and 2021 Blavatnik National Awards honorees on September 27, 2021, at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. CAPTION 2020 Blavatnik Regional Awards for Young Scientists Honorees Announced during National Postdoc Appreciation Week The winning postdoctoral researchers include a neuroscientist improving memory formation and recall, an astrophysicist illuminating dark matter, and a biochemist refining gene-editing technologies CREDIT Blavatnik Awards for Young Scientists/ New York Academy of Sciences{module INSIDE STORY}sc

The 2020 Blavatnik Regional Awards Winners are:

  • Life Sciences: Antonio Fernández-Ruiz, PhD, nominated by New York University
    Antonio Fernández-Ruiz has expanded our understanding of how neurons in the brain coordinate their activity to support our ability to form and recall memories. By uncovering the mechanisms of this coordinated activity in the brain, he was also able to alter how neurons are reactivated, demonstrating that memory can be improved artificially. Fernández-Ruiz will be transitioning to a tenure-track position at Cornell University in July 2021.
  • Physical Sciences & Engineering: Adrian Price-Whelan, PhD, nominated by Flatiron Institute
    Adrian Price-Whelan's innovative use of advanced statistical analysis and computational techniques has unlocked one of the biggest mysteries of the universe--dark matter. Utilizing satellite data to analyze the motions of stars throughout the outer regions of the Milky Way, Price-Whelan's work has provided the first clear evidence of dark matter substructure in the outskirts of our galaxy.
  • Chemistry: Ning Jia, PhD, nominated by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
    Ning Jia has unlocked key biological mechanisms that govern the function of enzymes and CRISPR-Cas systems, such as those used in gene editing. Jia's research has provided scientists with an enhanced understanding of the functions and structure of individual atoms in biological molecules. In the case of her work on CRISPR-Cas systems, this detailed knowledge is necessary if we are to demonstrate that gene-editing can be used in the future to cure certain genetic diseases.

"Scientists strive to solve the world's most urgent problems, leading to further discovery, innovation, economic growth, and societal progress," said Len Blavatnik, Founder and Chairman of Access Industries, head of the Blavatnik Family Foundation, and member of the President's Council of the New York Academy of Sciences. "Our nation's thriving scientific ecosystem is reliant, to a large degree, on scientists and engineers coming to America to study and conduct research. I'm pleased that our 2020 honorees hail from multiple countries, highlighting yet again how essential it is for scientists the world over to work together to address humankind's greatest challenges and improve the quality of life for everyone."

Nicholas B. Dirks, the New York Academy of Sciences' new President and CEO said: "Postdocs are the fuel running the engines of scientific research. We are incredibly proud to announce these outstanding postdoctoral Winners and Finalists of the 2020 Blavatnik Regional Awards, especially during National Postdoc Appreciation Week --a week dedicated to recognizing the significant contributions that postdoctoral scholars make to American research and discovery. The Academy, through administering programs for postdoctoral scientists such as the Blavatnik Regional Awards and Science Alliance, is committed to supporting these young investigators as they transition to the next stages in their career and beyond."

The following postdoctoral researchers have been named Finalists in their respective categories:

Life Sciences

  • Amelia Escolano, PhD , nominated by The Rockefeller University
    Amelia Escolano was recognized for her groundbreaking HIV research, designing a novel immunization procedure that could lead to a vaccine against HIV-1. By sequentially exposing mice to several different forms of a protein found on the HIV-1 virus over a five month period, Escolano was able to train the immune system to make antibodies that neutralize a broad diversity of strains of the rapidly mutating HIV-1 virus.
  • Marc Schneeberger Pané, PhD, nominated by The Rockefeller University
    Marc Schneeberger Pané has discovered that a specific area of the brain usually associated with mood and wakefulness also controls energy balance and body weight by regulating feeding behavior and body temperature. Two types of neurons in this area are activated by different energy states (hunger, satiety) or with temperature challenges (heat). Importantly, activation of these neurons leads to strong effects in feeding or temperature regulation. As a result body weight is changed. Obesity is a disease in which energy balance is dysregulated, so this new finding offers promise for developing novel drugs to treat this chronic, widespread condition.

Physical Sciences & Engineering

  • Zahra Abdollahnejad, PhD , nominated by the University of Connecticut
    Zahra Abdollahnejad was recognized for the design and development of green construction materials for buildings. Concrete is responsible for 4-8% of the world's global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Through her development of specialized mixtures of environmentally-friendly concretes, mortars, and insulating foams, Abdollahnejad could significantly reduce the impact of concrete on global warming by a 50-90% carbon footprint compared to cementitious compositions, making newly constructed buildings more energy-efficient. She is also trying to develop sustainable construction materials with near-zero CO2 emissions. Her work is re-shaping how the construction industry uses concrete, creating more sustainable buildings for our future.
  • Shruti Puri , PhD, nominated by Yale University
    Shruti Puri was recognized for her extraordinary theoretical discoveries in quantum information storage and quantum computing. In quantum computing systems, error (noise) is an obstacle to accuracy and computational advantage. Puri's rigorous theoretical and mathematical treatment of error led to the discovery of a completely new way of storing information in microwave photons (quanta of light), known as the Kerr-cat quantum bit. Puri's discovery makes the path towards scalable quantum computing technologies truly possible, by tailoring the errors affecting the quantum bit in such a way that they become relatively easy to correct. Puri has recently been promoted to a tenure-track position at Yale University.

Chemistry

  • Xianwen Mao, PhD , nominated by Cornell University
    Xianwen Mao has developed a first-of-its-kind technique called COMPEITS (competition-enabled imaging technique with super-resolution) that allows for real-time optical imaging of non-fluorescent processes--processes that do not give off energy in the form of visible light. His groundbreaking technique allows for the visualization of various classes of non-fluorescent systems and processes, such as surface reactions, neurotransmitters, and chemical warfare agents--all with high resolution and under realistic conditions. This technique could be extremely useful in fields including neuroscience, materials engineering and nanotechnology, where many critical processes are non-fluorescent.
  • Yifei Zhang, PhD , nominated by Columbia University
    Yifei Zhang has uncovered the principles that govern the overall activity of enzyme cascade reactions--a sequence of successive chemical reactions naturally occurring in living cells. By understanding the interplay between reaction and transport, he has shown that it is possible to engineer cellular components to perform programmable and predictable functions in vitro, including the synthesis of small molecule drugs and therapeutics.

ELLIS Heidelberg aims to bridge artificial intelligence, life sciences

Tyler O'Neal, Staff Editor SCIENCE

A newly established research unit will support artificial intelligence and machine learning in the life sciences and will link its activities in Heidelberg with other research institutes internationally. The unit is part of ELLIS – the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems – and will enable substantial progress in data analysis in medicine and the life sciences. ELLIS Heidelberg was founded by scientists from the German Cancer Research Center, EMBL Heidelberg, and Heidelberg University.

Researchers from all life science disciplines – from fundamental biological research to medical applications – generate immense datasets. Analyzing these datasets and gaining new knowledge from them is a growing challenge for scientists. The fields of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning are developing fast, and their tools and methods can help researchers to carry out large-scale data analysis more efficiently. However, these methods have so far been largely untapped in the life sciences. ELLIS logo{module INSIDE STORY}

A newly founded research unit of the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS) will bring together the best AI researchers in Heidelberg – working in medicine or the life sciences – to increase the level of cooperation between the participating institutes and ensure that AI research in Heidelberg can have an international impact. “The ELLIS unit in Heidelberg is intended as a bridge, connecting the life sciences sphere with the world of AI,” says Anna Kreshuk, a group leader at EMBL and one of the ELLIS unit co-directors.

ELLIS is a pan-European network of leading researchers in the field of artificial intelligence. The ELLIS network was inspired by the structure of EMBL and the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). ELLIS has the ambition of promoting AI research in Europe and fostering novel innovations. The network currently comprises 28 units in 14 European countries.

Many AI research groups in Europe are embedded in larger institutions that do not focus on AI methodology and research. ELLIS aims to overcome this challenge by creating a network of researchers, all working with AI and machine learning procedures but supporting various scientific fields. This makes it easier for researchers to inform themselves about existing methods and share these methods with each other. “The methods used in different areas are often close to each other. However, due to the lack of exchange, a method developed in one field is often not used in another one, simply because people are not aware that this method exists. ELLIS aims to change that!” explains Anna Kreshuk.

“AI and machine learning are key technologies and innovation drivers for our future,” says Theresia Bauer, Minister of Science, Research and Arts for the German federal state of Baden-Württemberg. “Baden-Württemberg as a research location offers enormous potential in this field, which also includes the Heidelberg research institutions which are leaders in the development of AI applications in the medical and life sciences. I am pleased and proud that Heidelberg is the third ELLIS unit in our state to start working on the future field of the interface between AI and the life sciences. This means that ‘AI made in BW’ wins overall.”

The new ELLIS unit in Heidelberg focuses on questions arising in the life sciences, covering the fundamental principles of life, but also health and cancer research. This includes methods for the interpretation of medical imaging data, or for coping with the diversity of omics data, which encompasses a range of data types that provide complete genetic or molecular profiles of humans or other organisms. The unit will develop new methods for AI and will link technologies with data from the life sciences and make these available to the research community. “In Heidelberg, we want to demonstrate the enormous potential of AI and machine learning to enable us to better cope with the huge challenges of biomedicine, oncology, and the health sciences as a whole,” explains Oliver Stegle, a group leader at EMBL, Head of the Division of Computational Genomics and System Genetics at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), and co-director and spokesperson of the new unit.

The new ELLIS unit brings together scientists from three leading Heidelberg research institutes: EMBL Heidelberg, the Heidelberg University, and DKFZ. “ELLIS Heidelberg offers a unique opportunity to combine the outstanding research in machine learning in Heidelberg and contribute to solving important medical problems,” says Carsten Rother, co-director of Heidelberg University.

While the founding members are already active in the ELLIS network, the newly established unit will allow them to work more closely together. It will also increase the international visibility of the AI research groups in Heidelberg, and will make it easier to hire talented people in this very competitive field. “We have to become a bigger player in the field to compete with other, dedicated AI research centres,” says Oliver Stegle. The unit has already planned not only its research activities but also an interdisciplinary training programme for young scientists. This new initiative is open for joint projects with industry and is already supported by an existing network of industry partners.

Bilitza wins funding for space physics data facility science support

Tyler O'Neal, Staff Editor SCIENCE

Dieter Bilitza, Research Professor, Physics and Astronomy, is working with scientists in the Space Physics Data Facility (SPDF) and with NASA Heliophysics missions to identify, acquire, archive and effectively serve appropriate and important data from these missions to meet the data responsibilities assigned to SPDF and to advance NASA's strategic science goals. {module INSIDE STORY}

He will place special emphasis on Ionospheric, Thermospheric, and Mesospheric (ITM) data sets and relevant SPDF services. He will also provide scientific expertise to SPDF and potential data providers to ensure useful data products are generated and documented for correct and independent archival use by the community. Further, he will work cooperatively with SPDF to present and improve its data, services, and accomplishments.

Bilitza received $189,798 from NASA for this project. Funding began in June 2020 and will end in May 2021.