Olivia DrakeJanice Naegele, professor of biology, professor of neuroscience and behavior, received a $484,788 National Institutes of Health Academic Research Enhancement Award for her work on “Stem Cell Transplation for Epilepsy" in 2013.
Jacob Herman, a graduate student in biology, received a grant worth $807 from the Sigma Xi Committee on Grants-in-Aid of Research in January 2013. The award will go toward lab supplies. Herman is investigating DNA methylation as a possible mechanism for adaptive trans-generational effects of drought on plant offspring development. His advisor is Sonia Sultan, professor of biology, professor of environmental studies. The Sigma Xi Grant-in-Aid of Research program has a highly competitive application process and only 20 percent of applicants receive any level of funding.
Sonia Sultan, professor and chair of biology, professor of environmental studies, recently had several new articles published. "A resurrection study reveals rapid adaptive evolution within populations of an invasive plant," was published in Evolutionary Applications, September 2012. Wesleyan research students Tim Horgan-Kobelski BA '09/MA '10, Lauren Nichols BA/MA '09, Charlotte Riggs '08 and Ryan Waples '07 co-authored the study. The paper is part of a multi-year study of the introduced Asian annual Polygonum cespitosum, which has recently become invasive in North America. Also in September, Sultan had another paper published about the same invasive species at PLoS One (Public Library of Science One). This paper, titled, "Phenotypic…
Lauren RubensteinProfessor Stephen Devoto and his students have identified a gene that controls a critical step in the development of muscle stem cells in vertebrate embryos. This discovery will allow scientists to better understand the causes of birth defects and diseases affecting human musculature, such as Muscular Dystrophy, and opens doors for the development of effective stem cell therapies for such diseases. Devoto is professor of biology, professor of neuroscience and behavior. The study, “Fss/ Tbx6 is required for central dermomyotome cell fate in zebra fish,” was published in July in Biology Open. Though the research was done on zebrafish, the gene,…
Professor of Biology Ann Burke recently completed a Fulbright Specialists project in Nepal at The Patan Academy of Health Sciences. It is the mission of this new medical program to train students from rural areas of Nepal who are committed to returning to their villages to provide desperately needed health care. Burke's project, which involved training local faculty in the teaching of human anatomy for medical students, was completed during the months of May and June. Burke was one of over 400 American faculty and professionals who will travel abroad this year through the Fulbright's Specialists Program. The program, created…
John Kirn, professor of biology, professor and chair of the neuroscience and behavior program, in May published an article in the Journal of Neuroscience on neurogenesis in songbirds. He recently spoke about his research on WNPR public radio and in The Hartford Courant. Q: Professor Kirn, you study the neuroscience behind song learning and production in zebra finches. Please tell us about your research, and the surprising findings to come out of your most recent work. A: I’m interested in the normal functions of adult neurogenesis—the continual addition and replacement of neurons. This happens to a limited extent in humans but…
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John Kirn, professor of biology, professor and chair of the neuroscience and behavior program, was interviewed on WNPR public radio on June 25 about his research on neurogenesis, or the formation of new neurons, in the brains of zebra finches. "The birds that had managed to preserve their songs the longest had the most new neurons, which was completely counter to our prediction. It suggests that maybe, at least in some cases and in some brain regions, new neurons are being added in order to preserve what's already been learned," Kirn said in the interview, describing the findings of his latest…
John Kirn, professor of biology, chair and professor of neuroscience and behavior, is the co-author of three recent articles. They include: "Adult neuron addition to the zebra finch song motor pathway correlates with the rate and extent of recovery from botox-induced paralysis of the vocal muscles," published in the Journal of Neuroscience, 31(47): 16958-16968. Yi-Lo Yu ’03, MA ’04 co-authored this paper. "Morphological plasticity in vocal motor neurons following song crystallization in the zebra finch," published in the Journal of Comparative Neurology, Accepted manuscript online on April 2, 2012. DOI: 10.1002/cne.23120. Biology major Kathryn McDonald Ph.D. '09 co-authored this article. And "Adult neurogenesis is associated…
Sonia Sultan, chair and professor of biology, professor of environmental studies, has been elected to the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. Sultan, an evolutionary biologist, joins 39 other Connecticut experts in science, engineering and technology to membership in the Academy this year. Four other Wesleyan faculty are already members of the Academy. Election to the Academy, according to the CASE web site, is based on scientific and engineering distinction achieved through significant contributions in theory or applications, as demonstrated by original published books and papers, patents, the pioneering of new and developing fields and innovative products, outstanding leadership of nationally recognized…
For the roughly one-third of temporal lobe epilepsy patients for whom drugs are not an option, researchers at Wesleyan are paving the way for alternative therapies using stem cells. Faculty members Janice Naegele, Gloster Aaron and Laura Grabel, together with Xu Maisano, Ph.D. ’11, Elizabeth Litvina, B.A. ’10/M.A. ’11, and Stephanie Tagliatela, the lab manager in the Naegele lab, recently published a landmark study in the Journal of Neuroscience on the use of embryonic stem cells to treat temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). The researchers derived neural “parent cells” in culture from mouse embryonic stem cells, and transplanted them into the…
A word of caution to the caterpillar munching on that delicious, nutritious black cherry tree: watch out for hungry birds. Michael Singer, associate professor of biology, is the lead author of a new study published in The American Naturalist on the effect of a caterpillar’s choice of feeding spot on its chances of becoming bird food. The article found that on balance, nutritious trees, like black cherry, can increase by 90 percent a caterpillar’s risk of being taken by foraging birds. According to the article, this effect is seen because the most nutritious tree species harbor the greatest number of…