President Barack Obama has named 85 new recipients of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, including two faculty members at HMS. The award is considered the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.
Recipients are nominated by 10 federal agencies and departments, and the awards are coordinated by the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President. Awardees are selected for their pursuit of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology, and their commitment to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education or community outreach.
Amy Wagers, HMS associate professor of stem cell and regenerative biology at Joslin Diabetes Center and a faculty member at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, received an Early Career Award from the National Institutes of Health. Her lab focuses on understanding the mechanisms that regulate the function of hematopoietic (blood-forming) and myogenic (muscle-forming) stem cells so that their potential can be optimally exploited for the treatment of diseases such as cancer, anemia, muscular dystrophy and diabetes.
Ziv Williams, HMS instructor in surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital, also received an Early Career Award from the NIH. The Williams lab explores the mechanisms by which individual neurons communicate locally and across cortical areas and investigates new approaches for reconstituting the line of communication across damaged areas within the central nervous system.
