These awards are particularly sought after because they create the “bridge” for an investigator between their post-doctoral work and the first independent step in their career. “Getting the grant was a real validation that I was going in the right direction,” says Churchman, whose research is looking at the process of how DNA makes a temporary copy of itself. Churchman discovered that several pauses occur along this event, called RNA transcription, and is asking why these stops in production take place and what other factors, or regulators, might be contributing. RNA transcription is inherent in all biological processes and plays a huge role in disease.