He studies the zebrafish, because its genetics are well established and zebrafish embryos are transparent and readily available for imaging. His laboratory plans to use this visual advantage to study physiology and address how fluid secretion and pressure contribute to organ development.

The Pioneer Awards are designed to support individual scientists of exceptional creativity who propose pioneering approaches to major challenges in biomedical and behavioral research. Awardees are required to commit the major portion (at least 51%) of their research effort to activities supported by the Pioneer Award.

The New Innovator Award addresses two important goals: stimulating highly innovative research and supporting promising new investigators. To win the award, investigators must have exceptionally innovative research ideas, but not the preliminary data required to fare well in the traditional NIH peer review system. The procedure for evaluation emphasizes the individual's creativity, the innovativeness of the research approaches, and the potential of the project to have a significant impact on an important biomedical or behavioral research problem.

Source: Duke University Medical Center