News & Events

Assistant Professor Jerry Chen Named NIH New Innovator

Assistant Professor Jerry Chen has been awarded an NIH New Innovator Award of $2.5 million over the next five years. This money will fund Chen’s efforts to crack the neural code of the brain and better understand the relationship between the genetic and electrical influences that control cognitive functions like sensory processing, decision making, and learning and memory. This research was highlighted in BU Research, and you can also learn more in his NIH New Innovator profile and Project Information.

Professor Rotjan Awarded Two Grants for Phoenix Islands Research

Biology Department Research Assistant Professor and Lecturer Randi Rotjan has received two grants that will support work in the Phoenix Islands in Kiribati. One grant, awarded by National Geographic, supports fieldwork in the South Seas. Another grant, awarded by the Waitt Foundation, is in support of a documentary of the fieldwork being completed.

Professor Davies Awarded Early-Career Research Fellowship

Professor Sarah Davies has been awarded an Early-Career Research Fellowship from the National Academy of Sciences Gulf Research Program. This two year fellowship supports emerging scientific leaders as they take risks on research ideas not yet tested, pursue unique collaborations, and build a network of colleagues who share their interest in improving offshore energy system safety and the well-being of coastal communities and ecosystems.

Professor Cheng Awarded National Institute on Drug Abuse Grant

Department of Biology Assistant Professor Christine Cheng and Assistant Dean of Boston University School of Medicine and Associate Professor (BUMC) Andrew Henderson received a three-year, $2.9 million R61 award from the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health to study the effect of opioid use disorder on HIV latent reservoirs and immune dysfunction.

Professor Karen Warkentin Invited to Serve as University Lecturer

Professor Karen Warkentin has been selected to give the University Lecture at Boston University this year. The University Lecture has been a BU tradition since 1950 and highlights the outstanding research of one faculty member from across the university each year. The lecture will be open to the BU Community and general public. Dr. Warkentin was selected on the basis of her collaborative research across disciplines in which she brings a biological perspective to gender & sexuality studies, and a feminist and queer perspective to biology.

Professor Warkentin’s University Lecture will be given on November 14th at 7 pm. Admission is free and it is open to the public.

You can read more about the University Lecture and watch a video of Dr. Warkentin's lecture here.

Assistant Professor Christine Cheng Named BU Data Science Faculty Fellow

Assistant Professor Christine Cheng has been named one of BU’s newest Data Science Faculty Fellows! "The Faculty Fellows program aims to assemble a cluster of uniquely talented faculty whose expertise transcends traditional boundaries, leveraging the field’s three methodological disciplines of Computer Science, Statistics, and Electrical & Computer Engineering to enable fundamental advances in the entire landscape of academic disciplines.” The program is run through the Hariri Institute. You can read more about the Data Science Faculty Fellow program here.

Professor Warkentin Gives Plenary Address at ISBE

Professor Karen Warkentin was invited to give the Plenary Address at the International Society for Behavioural Ecology’s biennial conference in August 2018. Professor Warkentin's talk was titled "Proximate and ultimate causes of plastic hatching timing."