Dr Kausik Si, assistant investigator at Stowers Institute for Medical Research in Kansas City, MO, has been named a Searle Scholar.
Dr Si, who also runs his own laboratory at the institute, was one of the 15 early-career scientists from across the United States, and the only Indian-American or of South Asian origin, selected for the 2006 award that carries $240,000 over three years for each winner.
This year, the scientific advisory board for the scholars program considered 173 entries from recently appointed assistant professors, nominated by 120 universities and research institutions.
In selecting the scholars, the board looked for individuals who have already done important, innovative research and who have the potential for making significant contributions to biological research over an extended period of time.
"Competition for Searle Scholar Awards attracts the most promising young scientists in the country," said Dr William B Neaves, president and CEO of the Stowers Institute. "Kausik Si's success in winning this prestigious award testifies to his qualifications as an emerging research leader, and he will surely do great things with the additional funding provided by the Searle Scholars Program."
The institute seeks more effective means of preventing and curing disease through basic research on genes and proteins that control fundamental processes of cellular life. Dr Si's lab concentrates on how information is acquired via learning and stored over time as memories in the brain. He devotes special attention to the role of synapses in memory.
Si joined the institute in June last year from the Columbia University Center for Neurobiology and Behavior where he conducted postdoctoral research since 1999 with Dr Eric Kandel, winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
"Kausik Si's selection in the national competition brings the Stowers Institute its first Searle Scholars Award," Dr Robb Krumlauf, scientific director, said. "This is well-deserved recognition of Dr Si's potential as an outstanding laboratory scientist and a source of pride to all of his colleagues here in Kansas City."
Si was awarded a Jane Coffin Childs Fellowship in 2000 and a Francis Goelet Fellowship in Neuroscience in 2002. He earned a Ph D in molecular biology from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and holds undergraduate and master's degrees in science from the University of Calcutta.
The Searle Scholars Program was established at the Chicago Community Trust in 1980 and is funded from the estates of Mr and Mrs John G Searle. Mr Searle was the grandson of the founder of the worldwide pharmaceutical company, G D Searle & Company.
The scholars program makes grants to selected universities and research centers to support the independent research of exceptional young faculty in the biomedical sciences and chemistry.