Kansas City, Mo. (June 5, 2008) – Kausik Si, Ph.D., Assistant Investigator, has been selected to receive the Klingenstein Fellowship in the Neurosciences from the Esther A. & Joseph Klingenstein Fund, Inc. The award of $150,000 over three years is intended to support early-career researchers engaged in innovative research in the neurosciences.

     Dr. Si’s laboratory concentrates on how information is acquired via learning and stored over time as memories in the brain. He devotes special attention to the role of synapses in memory.

     “We are interested in understanding how long-lasting memories are formed,” said Dr. Si. “Our team has discovered unique properties of a neuronal protein that might explain part of this process, but the idea is in its infancy and is somewhat controversial. Support from the Klingenstein Fund will help us to probe this very intriguing question further.”

     “Dr. Si and his team approach the acquisition of memory with novel and penetrating experiments,” said William B. Neaves, Ph.D., President and CEO. “It is gratifying that the Klingenstein Fund has recognized the outstanding potential of this research, and the additional support provided by the Fellowship will enable Dr. Si to accelerate his work.”

     Dr. Si joined the Institute in June 2005 from the Columbia University Center for Neurobiology and Behavior where he conducted postdoctoral research since 1999 with Dr. Eric Kandel, winner of the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

     Dr. Si was named a Searle Scholar and Basil O’ Connor Fellow in 2006, a Francis Goelet Fellow in Neuroscience in 2002, and a Jane Coffin Childs Fellow in 2000. He earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and holds undergraduate and master’s degrees in science from the University of Calcutta.

     In addition to his appointment at the Stowers Institute, Dr. Si is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Learn more about his work at http://www.stowers-institute.org/labs/SiLab.asp.

About the Stowers Institute
     Housed in a 600,000 square-foot state-of-the-art facility on a 10-acre campus in the heart of Kansas City, Missouri, the Stowers Institute for Medical Research conducts basic research on fundamental processes of cellular life. Through its commitment to collaborative research and the use of cutting-edge technology, the Institute seeks more effective means of preventing and curing disease. The Institute was founded by Jim and Virginia Stowers, two cancer survivors who have created combined endowments of $2 billion in support of basic research of the highest quality.