NSF Postdoctoral Fellowship in Biology FY 2016

Lujan Ernesto, Rancho Santa Margarita CA

Investigators

Abstract

Postdoctoral Fellow: Ernesto G. Lujan Proposal Number: 1612264 This action funds an NSF Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Biology for FY 2016, Broadening Participation of Groups Under-represented in Biology. The fellowship supports a research and training plan for the Fellow that will increase the participation of groups underrepresented in biology. The title of the research plan for this fellowship to Ernesto Lujan is "Generating the mammalian limb progenitor." The host institution for this fellowship is Harvard University, and the sponsoring scientists are Drs. Olivier Pourquié and Clifford Tabin. These NSF funds are being used to generate a type of cell, the limb progenitor, which is the basis for the limbs of animals and has the capability to give the limb its form, pattern and structure. The research focuses on the basic biology of the limb progenitor, but is also of great national interest because it will advance efforts to use the limb progenitor as the source for generating limbs de novo, with utility for amputees of war, trauma or congenital defects. To date, no one has been able to generate such a cell type. This research gives us the foundation to interrogate the true limb progenitor functionally, genomically and on the chromatin level, and provides a clear understanding of how this 3D structure is generated. Aside from scientific endeavors, these funds are also being used to translate the potential of modern science to the general public and to recruit traditionally underrepresented minorities to science. To this end, three active approaches are being utilized to increase awareness and to recruit minority students. The first is mentoring - each summer students from underrepresented groups are recruited through the Summer Honors Undergraduate Research Program (SHURP), a program at Harvard that recruits underrepresented undergraduate biology students to do research in a host lab for a summer. The second is involvement in the community - each year the Fellow helps to judge poster presentations for the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS) and Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students (ABRCMS) conferences. The third is more traditional but important - by publishing good science in high-impact, peer-reviewed journals, the Fellow is increasing the awareness of the research, providing an effective microphone for showing that modern science is on the verge of being able to generate the basis for the mammalian limb.