What makes our brains capable of advanced functions? This is what Carmen Falcone, one of the winners of the Human Technopole Early Career Fellowship Program, will investigate. The program provides for the funding of five scholarships for five young researchers from foreign institutes to carry out their research in Italy.
By integrating neurogenomics, bioinformatics and electrophysiology, Carmen Falcone will investigate why the primate brain has much more refined functions than other animals. Particular attention will be paid to the role of a particular type of brain cell, the interlaminar astrocytes, in creating the neural connectivity of the primate cerebral cortex.
"I am very happy with this great achievement. I am delighted to build up my research group at SISSA, an internationally renowned institution that is very dear to me because it is where I took my first steps as a researcher during my PhD experience".
Carmen Falcone, 32, in fact gained her PhD in Structural and Functional Genomics at SISSA in 2016, she is currently at the University of Davis, California but she will return to Trieste in April to start the project, financed with a scholarship of 200,000 euros for five years.
The Early Career Fellowship Program provides for a total investment of 5 million euros over five years, it is sponsored by the Ministry of University and Research and aims to encourage the development of independent young scientists as well as promote collaboration between Italian research centers.