June 01, 2011

Janis Lochner Receives NIH AREA Award

Janis Lochner Receives NIH AREA Award

Janis Lochner, Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry/Molecular Biology, was awarded a $345,173 research grant by the National Institutes of Health for her project, “Real-time imaging of tPA fluorescent hybrids in hippocampal neurons”.  This three-year Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) grant will support Dr. Lochner’s continued research on the mechanisms that underlie memory formation, and will involve at least six undergraduate students and one postdoctoral scholar. The studies proposed by Dr. Lochner will focus on the regulated release of neuromodulatory proteins from neurons in the hippocampus, the region of the brain implicated in consolidating short-term memories to long-term memories. The formation of long-term memories requires persistent changes in the function of the synapses, sites of communication between neurons, and the regulated release of neuromodulatory proteins facilitates these synaptic changes. (June 2011)