Mercer Times

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded $207 million in grants to 67 researchers through its High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. Among the recipients are four Princeton University researchers: John F. Brooks II, Zemer Gitai, Fenna Krienen, and Michael Skinnider.

Nobel laureate John Hopfield praised this type of research at a press conference following his Nobel Prize win in physics. He remarked on the risks involved in innovative scientific research: “the kind of science which has such extensive possibilities [also has] the possibility that you just don’t find anything at all. That’s a risk you have to take.”

The NIH Director’s Awards aim to "enable exceptionally creative scientists to potentially transform biomedical science," according to the organization. Tara Schwetz, deputy director of the NIH for Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, highlighted the importance of these awards by stating that “the groundbreaking science pursued by these researchers is poised to have a broad impact on human health.”

Zemer Gitai received the Director’s Pioneer Award. As an Edwin Grant Conklin Professor of Biology at Princeton's Department of Molecular Biology, Gitai's work focuses on bacterial diseases and developing new antibiotics. The award will support his research into non-traditional antibiotics using a single-cell approach.

John F. Brooks II was honored with the Director’s New Innovator Award for his study on circadian rhythms and their effect on gut microbiome microorganisms. Brooks joined Princeton faculty in January 2022 after completing his Ph.D. in microbiology from Northwestern University.

Fenna Krienen also received a New Innovator Award for her research into human neocortex development and its implications for neurological disorders like autism and Alzheimer’s disease. She is an assistant professor at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute.

Michael Skinnider was granted the Director’s Early Independence Award to explore small molecules influencing disease risk and drug response using AI technologies in metabolomics.

Rong Lu, a Princeton graduate alumna now at the University of Southern California, also received an award under this program.