Professor Dávalos Awarded HFSP Grant to Study the Regenerative Properties of the Shrew
The International Human Frontier Science Program Organization (HFSPO) recently announced awards totaling $35 million to support the top 4% of the HFSP Research Grant applications over the next 3 years. Receiveing 814 letters of intent, only 34 winning teams were selected following a rigorous year-long selection process in a global competition with scientists representing more than 60 countries.
HFSP's collaborative Research Grants are given for a wide range of projects which fall under the theme of "Complex mechanisms of living organisms." The program funds cutting-edge research, such as this close look into the regenerative powers of the Shrew. While many animal species hibernate for the winter, shrews have a more unusual way of surviging the winter, by temporarily shrinking. Their brains, hearts, and bones shrink, sometimes by as much as a quarter of their total body mass. However, come springtime, they just start growing again. Shrews have the ability to actually regenerate brain tissue.
Dr. Dávalos believes this ability may have implications for future treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's in humans.
Further reading:
What Could The Tiny Shrew Teach Us About Sciences Biggest Questions?