Inaugural Allen Distinguished Investigator Life Science Symposium In La Jolla, CA.

LA JOLLA, Calif., Feb. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a showcase of some of the most exciting high-risk, high-reward ideas in the life sciences, recent recipients of the Allen Distinguished Investigator (ADI) award are gathering to present their work to an audience of thought leaders from around the world at the inaugural Allen Distinguished Investigator Life Science Symposium. The symposium highlights the work of researchers who typically receive nearly $1 million or more for three years of research. 

"The ADI program allows these bold explorers to open up new frontiers, following their curiosity to create fundamental understanding at a time when life science is expanding dramatically," says Tom Skalak, Executive Director of Science and Technology programs for the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation.

The projects funded by ADI awards hold the promise of making great impact on their respective fields, including reanimating limbs with a brain-computer-spinal interface, exploring the genes that make us human, and seeking out a new way to treat lymphoma in Botswana.

Presentations during the all-day symposium will feature various key award focus areas.

Cellular Decision-Making

• Thierry Emonet, Yale University; Thomas Shimizu,FOM Institute for Atomic and Molecular Physics; Steven Zucker, Yale University: Crowd Computing with Bacteria: Balancing Phenotypic Diversity and Coordinated Behavior
• Hana El-Samad, University of California, San Francisco: Untangling the Wires: An Integrated Framework for Probing Signal Encoding and Decoding in Cellular Circuits
• Jeff Gore, Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Microbial Studies of Cellular Decision-making: Game Theory and the Evolutionary Origins of Cooperation
• Suckjoon Jun, University of California, San Diego: Cell-Size Control and its Evolution at the Single-Cell Level

Human Accelerated Regions

• Svante Pääbo, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology: Analysis of Positively Selected Genetic Changes Unique to Modern Humans
• Evan Eichler, University of Washington: Genetic Mutation of HARs and Human Neurocognition
• Christopher Walsh, Boston Children's Hospital: Molecular and genetic analysis of human brain evolution

Medical Research – From Global Health and Neuroengineering to Whole Cell Modeling

• Bruce Chabner, Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center: Redefining Botswana lymphoma characterization, assessment, and treatment in Botswana
• Chet Moritz, University of Washington; Joshua Smith, University of Washington; Adrienne Fairhall, University of Washington: A Brain-Computer Interface to Reanimate the Limbs Following Spinal Injury: Development of a Brain-Computer-Spinal Interface
• Markus Covert, Stanford University: Towards Whole-Cell Models of Higher Organisms

Lineage Barcode

• Jay Shendure, University of Washington; Marshall Horwitz, University of Washington School of Medicine: Cell Lineage Defined by Mitotic Recombination
• Neil Kelleher, Northwestern University: Defining Protein Barcodes for Scanning Cells in Human Blood
• Michael Elowitz, California Institute of Technology; Long Cai, California Institute of Technology: Tracking Cell Fate Decisions in Single Cells

About The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation
Launched by Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul G. Allen and Jo Lynn Allen in 1988, the Allen family's philanthropy is dedicated to transforming lives and strengthening communities by fostering innovation, creating knowledge and promoting social progress. Since inception, the Foundation has awarded over $550 million to more than 1,400 nonprofit groups to support and advance their critical charitable endeavors in the Pacific Northwest and beyond. The Foundation's funding programs nurture the arts, engage children in learning, address the needs of vulnerable populations, advance scientific and technological discoveries, and move new knowledge to global impact that creates economic growth and societal benefit. For more information, go to www.pgafamilyfoundation.org.

Media Contact:
Rob Piercy, Sr. Media Relations Specialist, Allen Institute
Office: 206.548.8486 | Mobile: 206.601.8441
[email protected]

SOURCE The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation