Spotlight

Assistant Professors Kenta Asahina and Eiman Azim were promoted to associate professor, and Associate Research Professor Margarita Behrens was promoted to research professor, each for their original, innovative and notable contributions to neuroscience.

Kenta Asahina

Asahina conducts research on the genetic and neural basis of social interactions as part of the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory. To study the basis of animal social behavior, he uses the common fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism for understanding the genes and brain cells that cause behavioral responses, such as aggression, escape and courtship. Asahina’s discoveries include a molecule released from brain cells associated with aggressive behavior in Drosophila. This same molecule was linked to aspects of aggressive behavior in mammalian models, which suggests it may serve as a therapeutic target for alleviating some behavioral symptoms associated with mental and psychiatric disorders.

Eiman Azim

Azim, who holds the William Scandling Developmental Chair, conducts research in the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, where he studies how the nervous system guides movement. Understanding how movements are learned, planned, executed and corrected can teach us more about the ways our brains coordinate complex motions such as reaching, grasping and object manipulation. By dissecting the movement pathways one element at a time, Azim aims to pinpoint neural circuits and piece together the underpinnings of skilled motions. Dexterous movements of the arms and hands are critical functions often affected by neurodegenerative disease and injury, and Azim’s work seeks to lay the foundation for better treatments and recovery of function.

Margarita Behrens

Behrens is a member of the Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, where she studies brain development and disruption. From birth to adulthood our brains activate or inhibit cells in response to our environments. However, this context-dependent regulatory mechanism may go awry in some individuals as they develop. Behrens focuses on the interplay between our environments and cellular processes to determine why some people develop brain disorders while others do not. She also investigates brain circuit formation and disruption within the regions responsible for planning, reasoning and decision-making. By charting how cells control gene activity and changes that occur during cell maturation, Behrens’ work could lead to a better understanding of neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and autism.

For a full interview with Behrens, please visit this issue’s Observations feature.

Goulding received the Lundbeck Foundation’s 2022 Brain Prize for pioneering research on the neuronal circuits that control movement.

Goulding shares the prize—the world’s top recognition in neuroscience, totaling 10 million DKK (approximately $1.5 million)—with Professor Ole Kiehn at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and Professor Silvia Arber at the University of Basel and Friedrich Miescher Institute in Switzerland. His Royal Highness The Crown Prince of Denmark bestowed the prize to the trio at an event in Copenhagen on May 24.

For the 11th consecutive time, the Salk Institute earned the highest ranking—four out of four stars—from Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent charity and nonprofit evaluator. Only two percent of the approximately 10,000 nonprofits evaluated have achieved this recognition 10 consecutive times. The coveted ranking indicates the Salk Institute has demonstrated strong financial health and commitment to accountability and transparency, outperforming most other charities in the United States with respect to executing best fiscal practices and carrying out its mission in a financially efficient way.

Charity Navigator’s data-driven analysis of the 1.5 million American charities has been covered by Forbes, Business Week and others for providing donors with a way to recognize nonprofits that provide greater accountability, transparency and concrete results.

Since receiving its previous rating from Charity Navigator in 2021, the Salk Institute has launched the Campaign for the Future: Building a More Resilient World—a bold, five-year, $500 million effort to attract the people and acquire the technology and space necessary to expand and accelerate Salk’s critical research. At the center of this audacious goal is the plan to build the 100,000-square-foot Joan and Irwin Jacobs Science and Technology Center.

The first major commitment toward the construction of the Jacobs Center came from longtime Salk supporters Joan and Irwin Jacobs in the form of a match challenge. Between now and September 30, 2022, the Jacobs will contribute $1 for every $2 donated—up to $100 million, which would translate to a total of $300 million with matching funds—for gifts or pledges made toward the campaign.

Since 2002, Charity Navigator has used objective analysis to award only the most fiscally responsible organizations a four-star rating; only a quarter of charities rated receive this distinction. In 2011, Charity Navigator added to its ratings methodology 17 metrics, focused on governance, ethical practices and measures of openness. These Accountability and Transparency metrics, which account for 50 percent of a charity’s overall rating, reveal which charities operate in accordance with industry best practices and whether they are open with their donors and stakeholders.

In May, the Salk Board of Trustees welcomed Carol Gallagher as a new trustee. Gallagher brings a wealth of experience in the business and investment side of the life sciences industry to Salk’s board. She is a venture partner at New Enterprise Associates, a US-based, worldwide venture capital firm focused on a variety of investment stages ranging from seed through growth stage, and across a broad array of industry sectors. She has 30 years of experience in commercial, drug development and business development roles. Gallagher’s current work focuses on the biopharmaceutical industry.

At Salk, Gallagher also serves as chair of the Salk Women & Science Advisory Committee. Recently, she and her husband, John Gallagher, helped establish the Swati Tyagi Memorial Fund at Salk.

Professors Reuben Shaw, Susan Kaech, Christian Metallo and Alan Saghatelian have received a 2022 Mark Foundation for Cancer Research Endeavor Award to support their research exploring the metabolic changes that help lung cancers develop. The $3 million Endeavor Award promotes collaborative science to tackle some of the toughest challenges in cancer research. The Salk team—one of four teams chosen out of nearly 200 applications submitted by institutions around the world—hopes their work will lead to the development of more effective lung cancer treatments.

Kaech, director of Salk’s NOMIS Center for Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogenesis, was elected to the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) to serve as councilor from 2022 to 2026. The AAI Council comprises eight scientists who are collectively responsible for advancing knowledge of immunology and its related disciplines.

In her lab, Kaech studies a class of immune cells, known as memory T cells, that are responsible for developing long-term immunity to infection. Memory T cells could be used to treat cancer by leveraging the body’s own immune system––a budding field called cancer immunotherapy. She also studies how immune cells are metabolically regulated by the types of nutrients they consume in cancer. Kaech will bring her expertise to the AAI Council to promote advances in immunology education, public awareness, advocacy and research.