After arriving, they both won Sloan Fellowships in Neurobiology, and have been awarded NIH research grants, an obvious external endorsement of their quality. The following year we recruited Dr. Lindsay Hinck, who has also quickly received several grants. Part of the reason we have been able to attract these outstanding young scientists is because they are also committed to building a new program and they want to play a major part in its formation.
Neurobiology is the most important growth area in our department.
They are not topical disciplines like cell biology, but instead are a set of methodological approaches and considerations that can be used by geneticists, and cell or developmental biologists. To understand the molecular basis of life it is essential to know the detailed structure of the proteins and nucleic acids involved in each process. New methods of genomic analysis are being developed to deal with the unprecedented amount of information coming from large-scale sequencing projects. These methods are going to be essential for future research. Student demand for training in these areas and opportunities for employment are already very high because of efforts in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry.