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Ó³»­´«Ã½ core faculty member Feng Zhang has been selected as one of the first winners of the Bert L. and N. Kuggie Vallee Foundation Young Investigator Award. The award recognizes outstanding young scientists and provides discretionary funds for basic biomedical research.

Zhang, also an assistant professor of neuroscience and biological chemistry, and a principal investigator in the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, applies synthetic biology approaches to study nervous system function and disease. His lab also develops and applies novel tools using a combination of animal and stem cell models. Zhang was selected for Vallee Foundation award based on the originality of his research, his record of accomplishment, and his ability to carry out independent research.

Additional recipients of this year’s award include Kirsty L. Spalding, a senior researcher at the Karolinska Institutet (Stockholm, Sweden) who studies obesity by investigating the maintenance and regulation of fat cells, and David Tobin, an assistant professor at Duke University Medical Center whose research centers on the direct observation of the response of immune cells to pathogens in zebrafish.

Bert L. and N. Kuggie Vallee formed the Vallee Foundation as a legacy to advance medical science and medical education. The Foundation stimulates the development of interdisciplinary sciences related to human health by promoting interaction between productive scientists worldwide. More information can be found at .