Shaheen, Hassan Announce $800K National Science Foundation Grant for Dartmouth College

(Washington, DC) – U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Maggie Hassan (D-NH) announced today that the National Science Foundation awarded Dartmouth College an $800,000 Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program grant for Professor Michael Hoppa, Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences, to research nerve signaling in the human brain.

“I’m thrilled that Dartmouth College has been selected for this important research opportunity, which reflects the caliber of academic institutions we have here in New Hampshire,” said Senator Shaheen. “Supporting research projects like this are how medical advancements are made, and potentially, could impact how lives are shaped, changed or even saved. It’s critical that the government continue to invest in our academic institutions, particularly in New Hampshire, which is home to some of the brightest minds and top-notch programs at the forefront of this frontier. As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I’ll continue to advocate for federal assistance in scientific and medical research conducted at Dartmouth and other colleges and universities across the state and nation.”

“Investing in medical research is critical to strengthening the health and well-being of our people in New Hampshire and across the country,” said Senator Hassan. “I congratulate Dartmouth College on receiving this federal grant from the National Science Foundation, which will support an important research project that could potentially uncover new treatments in medicine while preparing future scientists with the skills and knowledge they need to continue pursuing medical advancements. I will continue to emphasize the importance of federal funding for medical research and stand up against efforts to cut it.”

“Professor Hoppa's CAREER award from the National Science Foundation is wonderful recognition of his success and future potential as a faculty member,” said Dartmouth Vice Provost for Research Dean Madden. “The CAREER awards are perfectly aligned with Dartmouth's teacher/scholar model: they provide critical funding for state-of-the-art research coupled with educational strategies to develop the next generation of scientists by tackling real-world problems.”

Professor Hoppa’s research will look at the stimulus of nerve signaling to the brain, which could help to understand at the molecular level how certain defects lead to autoimmune diseases, and ultimately help uncover new treatments. The grant will also support training undergraduate students, using cutting-edge techniques to visualize cellular activity. This work will complement a parallel project supported through Dartmouth’s NIH/IDeA-funded Institute for Biomolecular Targeting, which focuses on additional sources of flexibility in nerve signaling.

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