Jessica Plavicki, Ph.D was awarded R01 funding for Toxicant Induced Dysregulation of Parvalbumin Interneuron Development and Function from the National Institute of Environmental Health Science.   This R01 is an “Outstanding Environmental Scientist Award” which provides an additional $250k in career development support.  Plavicki is currently an Assistant Professor for the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Brown University Warren Alpert Medical School. Her research focuses on understanding how genetic mutations and exposure to environmental health contaminants impact brain and heart health.  Dr. Plavicki is an expert in using the zebrafish model to study the genetics of brain and cardiovascular development.

Yang Zhou, Ph.D was awarded $2,043,028 in R01 funding for Targeting Chi3l1 And Its Receptors In Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome-Associated Lung Disease from the National Heart, Lung, And Blood Institute. Dr. Zhou is currently an Assistant Professor of Molecular Microbiology & Immunology (Research) at Brown University. His research interests are directed towards understanding the immunopathogenesis of lung injury and repair. His recent research plans are aimed at dissecting the mechanisms that underlie the pathogenesis of pulmonary arterial hypertension, pulmonary fibrosis, and Type 2 immunity, specifically the roles of a Chitinase-like protein and its receptors, intracellular receptor trafficking pathways, and innate immunity in disease progress. His long-range research goals are to identify the immune and cellular responses that mediate lung injury and repair responses and to identify specific molecular targets that can be targeted in the treatment of related disorders.