The Iowa Neuroscience Institute has awarded two grants to support early-career faculty members pursuing research in fundamental brain mechanisms. Marie Gaine, PhD, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences and experimental therapeutics, and Jon Resch, PhD, assistant professor of neuroscience and pharmacology, will each receive $300,000 over two years to support their research.

Early-Stage Investigator Awards provide a base of support from which faculty members can lay the necessary groundwork for obtaining major national funding, including grants from the National Institutes of Health. “These awards funded by the Roy J, Carver Charitable Trust reflect our commitment to developing the careers of faculty in the Iowa Neuroscience Institute,” says INI Director Ted Abel.

Marie Gaine, PhD, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences and experimental therapeutics 
“Genetic and Environmental Factors Contributing to the Development of Psychiatric Disorders”

Gaine studies psychiatric disorders at the biological level seeking to identify genetic and environmental factors increasing the risk for these disorders. Current research in the lab utilizes a cutting-edge technique, Oxford Nanopore Sequencing, to study genetic and epigenetic changes associated with pregnancy in mice and with suicidal ideation in pregnant women. These experiments are designed to answer fundamental questions about DNA methylation changes in the brain during pregnancy and how suicidal ideation may dysregulate these patterns throughout pregnancy and the postpartum period.

Jon Resch, PhD, assistant professor of neuroscience and pharmacology
“Neural Control of Salt Appetite, Thirst, and Blood Pressure”

Resch has built a cutting-edge research program using single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, and neuroscience tools to study the neural control of appetite and metabolism. He uses genetically engineered mouse models and AAVs to map neuronal circuits as well as manipulate and record their activity to define their function. He is working to discover the molecular and circuit mechanisms driving salt appetite and thirst regulation. Identifying these key mechanisms will allow for future interventions to curb salt intake (reducing hypertension) and to address diminished thirst in the aging population.