FOR RELEASE: July 10, 2006
GALVESTON, Texas — University of Texas Medical Branch scientist Jose M. Barral, M.D., Ph.D., is one of 15 biomedical researchers nationwide to be recognized by the Pew Charitable Trusts for “most promising” research.
As a Pew Scholar, Dr. Barral will receive $240,000 over four years to undertake research on a biomedical project of his own choosing. His research involves human neurodegenerative disease.
"This is an extraordinary and very well deserved honor for Dr. Barral,” said Dr. Valerie Parisi, UTMB’s Chief Academic Officer and Dean of the School of Medicine. “I am thrilled that the Pew Charitable Trusts recognizes his excellent scholarship and research. It is work like Dr. Barral's that keeps UTMB on the forefront of health science research."
The Pew Scholars were selected by a distinguished committee of highly respected biomedical scientists. Recipients were named at Princeton, Columbia, Duke, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Northwestern, The Salk Institute, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and University of California at San Francisco, University of California at Irvine, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Utah.
The Pew Scholars in Biomedical Sciences program was launched to provide crucial support to researchers in the early- and mid-stages of their careers and to date has invested more than $100 million to fund 400 scholars.
Unlike many traditional research grants with strict guidelines, Pew Scholars are able to choose a research agenda and are encouraged to be entrepreneurial, to take calculated risks, and to follow unanticipated leads to maximize the benefits their research brings to society.