Professor Ben O’Shaughnessy is awarded 2 grants totaling $2.6 million by NIH

Professor Ben O’Shaughnessy was recently awarded $1.3 million by NIH to study neurotransmission in the brain. The research addresses neurotransmitter release at neuronal synapses, fundamental to cognition, sensation, and coordinated motor activity. The mechanisms have important implications for treatment of neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders. Other secretion processes studied include insulin release and its malfunction in diabetes. O’Shaughnessy was also awarded $1.3 million by NIH to study the mechanics of cell division. Cell division is essential to life, while cancer is essentially misregulated cell division. The research aims to understand, in health and in disease, the remarkable force-generating machinery that divides cells into two while ensuring even distribution of genetic material.