Research Highlights

NSF funds numerous projects and programs to help expand and improve infrastructure, workforce development, and research. These can range from facilitating virtual and in-person meetings that explore ways to integrate research methods from different sub disciplines of biology, to offering funded opportunities to further fundamental research within the biological sciences.

For years, NSF's Next Generation Networks for Neuroscience program, also known as NeuroNex, has worked to help develop new tools and theories to solve the mysteries of the brain. Now, NSF and a group of international partners are working to put those resources in the hands of researchers around the world and create international partnerships to accelerate the next generation of neuroscience.

In a recent article, posted on ConvergenceRI, Christopher Moore, Professor of Neuroscience and Associate Director of the Carney Institute of Brain Science, discusses the value and potential of bioluminescent optogenetics or BL-OG.

As the world grapples with the SARS-COV2 Pandemic and most schools remain closed for the unforeseeable future, virtual learning has become a part of the new normal.  Recently, the Bioluminescence Hub launched a virtual Junior Trainee Club — a program designed for 9-14-year-olds looking to learn STEM concepts and practice some scientific skills.

The Shaner laboratory hosted three excellent undergraduate students this summer. "In addition to getting a comprehensive education in biochemical and microbiological lab techniques, we were all able to develop and hone our ability to think practically and creatively while designing, not simply carrying out scientific experiments and explorations," says Patrick Friend, a student of Amherst College.

For the first time, researchers have found a non-invasive method to potentially treat spinal cord injuries using light naturally emitted by living organisms — a phenomenon referred to as bioluminescence — as a way to fire up specifically targeted neurons below the site of injury.