The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have awarded grants to six Yale School of Medicine researchers who are conducting exceptional and creative research with the potential to transform biomedical science.
The YSM researchers — Salil Garg, Diyendo Massilani, Wan-Ling Tseng, Sedona Murphy, Julien Berro, and Xiaolei Su — are among 67 recipients recognized by NIH’s High-Risk, High-Reward (HRHR) Research program, which supports “visionary and broadly impactful” behavioral and biomedical research projects.
Salil Garg, an assistant professor of laboratory medicine at Yale School of Medicine (YSM); Diyendo Massilani, an assistant professor of genetics at YSM; and Wan-Ling Tseng, an assistant professor at the Child Study Center, received New Innovator Awards, which support “unusually innovative research” from early career investigators who are within 10 years of their final degree or clinical residency and have not yet received a large NIH grant.
Sedona Murphy, an associate research scientist in cell biology at YSM, received an Early Independence Award, which enables scientists who have recently received their doctoral degree or completed their clinical training to bypass the traditional postdoctoral training period and launch independent research careers.
Julien Berro, an associate professor of cell biology at YSM and of molecular biophysics and biochemistry in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Xiaolei Su, an associate professor of cell biology at YSM, were awarded Transformative Research Awards for a collaborative research project they are conducting with Jonathan A. Green from Boston University. The Transformative Research grant supports cross-disciplinary research that has potential to create or challenge fundamental paradigms.
The 67 research grants, which total about $207 million, are supported by the NIH Common Fund, as well as three other institutes, centers, and offices across NIH.
“The HRHR program champions exceptionally bold and innovative science that pushes the boundaries of biomedical and behavioral research,” said Tara A. Schwetz, deputy director for program coordination, planning, and strategic initiatives at NIH. “The groundbreaking science pursued by these researchers is poised to have a broad impact on human health.”
In his research, Salil Garg studies non-genetic heterogeneity, or how cell systems with a singular genotype can form diverse cell states and functions. His lab employs highly interdisciplinary science, weaving together genomics, molecular biology, cell biology, systems biology, and machine learning techniques to understand how cell-to-cell differences arise under apparently homogeneous conditions. The lab is currently studying stem cells and cancer but maintains a broad interest in many areas of mammalian physiology.
Diyendo Massilani, who joined Yale’s Department of Genetics in July 2022, investigates the evolutionary history of modern and extinct human populations using ancient DNA. Specifically, his lab focuses on the retrieval and sequencing of DNA from archaeological materials to study the peopling of the world, the history of human health, and how humans adapt to different environments and lifestyle conditions.
Wan-Ling Tseng’s research focuses on understanding the brain mechanisms mediating abnormal psychological processes associated with irritability and aggression in children and adolescents and how these behaviors and symptoms change over time. Her research program aims to delineate mechanisms and predictors of chronic irritability across multiple levels of analysis from neural circuits, physiology, behaviors, social experiences (e.g., peer interactions), to familial and environmental factors and across development.
Sedona Murphy is a fellow in the Department of Cell Biology where she researches the interplay between epigenetic memory and 3D-genome organization across time scales and during development using super-resolution microscopy techniques.
Julien Berro, who is a faculty member at the Yale Nanobiology Institute, combines experimental, computational, and theoretical approaches to uncover the mechanisms of molecular machineries that produce forces in the cell, with a particular focus on the actin cytoskeleton and endocytosis. His lab is currently developing synthetic mechano-transduction tools for discovery research and therapeutics development. Read more about the project.
Xiaolei Su investigates transmembrane receptor signaling in immune response, with a focus on biomolecular condensation. His lab integrates cross-scale approaches including biochemical reconstitution, high-resolution microscopy, cell engineering, and animal models to address fundamental questions in immune cell biology and to develop next-generation cell therapies for cancer.
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