The Rosen Center is pleased to shine a spotlight on Dr. Viviana Gradinaru, assistant professor of biology and biological engineering at Caltech. Gradinaru, who is also a Heritage Medical Research Institute Investigator, and her lab focus on developing tools and methods for neuroscience (optogenetic actuators and sensors; tissue clearing and imaging; gene delivery vehicles) as well as on investigating the mechanisms underlying deep brain stimulation (DBS). Gradinaru serves as PI for Caltech's CLOVER (Clarity, Optogenetics and Vector Engineering Research) Center, which supports tissue clearing and imaging projects, optogenetic studies, and custom gene delivery vehicle development at Caltech through technology and methodology innovation, training, and infrastructure and reagent sharing. The Rosen Center extends sincere congratulations to Gradinaru on three recent notable achievements:
*Peter Gruss Young Investigator Award: Gradinaru was named as the inaugural recipient of this award from the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience to honor collaboration, creativity and curiosity-driven research.
*NIH Director's Blog: Gradinaru's research, using optogenetics and CLARITY to study a mouse-model of Parkinson's disease, was recently featured on the blog.
*Center for Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience: Gradinaru has been chosen to lead this new Center within the new Tianqiao and Chrissy Chen Institute for Neuroscience at Caltech.