Lab Funding
Alzheimer’s Disease Research Grant (BrightFocus Foundation)
Precise neurobiological profiling of the locus coeruleus and medial temporal lobe for the early detection of Alzheimer’s disease
The cause of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is unknown. We have begun to understand which brain regions are impacted decades before clinical symptom onset. However, current research has not utilized tasks sensitive enough to detect the earliest changes in memory that could predict AD. In this project, we will use sensitive memory tasks that target the earliest brain regions impacted in AD. Paired with state-of-the-art brain imaging techniques, we will identify early cognitive and brain changes in AD before clinical symptoms manifest, which could aid in earlier interventions to prevent or slow AD.
This project is funded by the BrightFocus Foundation.
NARSAD Brain & Behavior Foundation Young Investigator Grant
The impact of antidepressants on emotional pattern separation and medial temporal lobe dynamics
This project is a novel investigation of the mechanisms underlying antidepressant action on emotional memory and medial temporal lobe dynamics in depression. Currently, we do not understand the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying depression. Cross-species research suggests hippocampal pattern separation may be a potential mechanism underlying memory dysfunction in depression, which involves processing overlapping experiences as distinct from one another. Pattern separation may provide a mechanism of action for antidepressants, the first-line treatment for depression, due to their impact on hippocampal neurogenesis and pattern separation in rodents. However, little work has been done to examine these processes in humans. Furthermore, antidepressants are only effective in about 20% of those receiving treatment, thus, an examination of antidepressant responders and non-responders is essential in understanding antidepressant mechanisms. Our laboratory has developed an emotional mnemonic discrimination task designed to tax hippocampal pattern separation. When paired with high-resolution MRI, we can probe this system at an unprecedented level of detail. The current proposal aims to uncover the impact of antidepressants on emotional memory and amygdala-hippocampal dynamics in depression. Great advances will be made towards understanding antidepressant mechanism of action and impacts on the negativity bias in depression. This is a novel and innovative approach, which could lead to more targeted interventions toward emotional biases and their underlying neural mechanisms in depression.
This project is funded by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.
Undergraduate Funding Opportunities
- Amount: $500 – $5,000
- Purpose: Designed to assist students of Hispanic descent obtain a college degree
Rice Office of Undergraduate Research and Opportunity Summer Research Fellowship (SURF)
- Amount: $5,000
- Purpose: Supporting Rice undergraduates pursuing summer research with Rice faculty
- Requirements: Must work up to 200 hours on their research project
Rice University Undergraduate Conference and Research Grants
- Amount: Up to $500
- Purpose: Support for Rice undergraduates presenting research at conferences
Graduate Funding Opportunities
- Amount: $20,000
- Purpose: Living expenses for women completing their dissertation
- Amount: $28,000
- Purpose: One year of support for students working on their dissertation; intended to support the final year
Health Policy Research Fellows
- Amount: Varies
- Purpose: A leadership development opportunity for second-year full-time doctoral students from underrepresented populations and/or disadvantaged backgrounds—students whose ethnicity, socioeconomic status, ability, and other factors allow them to bring unique and diverse perspectives to their research. They want to apply their research to advance health and equity, and their innovation helps build a Culture of Health, one that enables everyone in America to live longer, healthier lives.
- Amount: $500 – $5,000
- Purpose: Designed to assist students of Hispanic descent obtain a graduate degree
Lodieska Stockbridge Vaughn Fellowship
- Amount: Typically around $16,000
- Purpose: Fellowship for a Rice graduate student with a record of outstanding achievement
Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowships
- Amount: $35,000
- Purpose: Supports a year of writing and research for PhD students in the last year of dissertation writing
NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program
- Amount: 3 years of support
- Purpose: Provides support for those at the beginning of their graduate careers
P.E.O. International Peace Scholarship
- Amount: Up to $12,500
- Purpose: Provides funding for women from outside the US who will be pursuing graduate studies in the US
- Amount: Up to $20,000
- Purpose: Provides funding for women who demonstrate academic excellence and achievement in their doctoral program
Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans
- Amount: Each award is for up to $25,000 in stipend support, as well as 50 percent of required tuition and fees, up to $20,000 per year, for one to two years.
- Purpose: Supports new Americans, immigrants, or the children of immigrants who are pursuing graduate school in the US
Postdoctoral Researcher Funding Opportunities
AAUW Postdoctoral Research Leave Fellowship
- Amount: $30,000
- Purpose: To assist women in obtaining tenure and further promotions by enabling them to spend a year pursuing independent research.
Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
- Amount: $50,000
- Purpose: Funding for a postdoc who plans to pursue a career in teaching and research at the university level
L’Oreal USA Fellowships for Women in Science
- Amount: $60,000
- Purpose: Awards women for their contributions to STEM and commitment to serving as role models for younger generations.
- Amount: $1,000,000
- Purpose: This annual award recognizes an outstanding young researcher in any field of science or engineering supported by the National Science Foundation.
NSF SBE Postdoctoral Research Fellowships
- Amount: Varies
- Purpose: Encourages independence early in the Fellow’s career through supporting his or her research and training goals. The research and training plan of each Fellowship must address important scientific questions within the scope of the SBE Directorate and the specific guidelines in this solicitation.
Rice Academy Postdoctoral Fellows Program
- Amount: 2 years of funding
- Purpose: Funding for postdocs working with Rice faculty, particularly those using interdisciplinary approaches.
Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award
- Amount: Varies
- Purpose: Enhance the research training of promising postdocs with promising careers in healthcare related research