Kansas City, Mo. (May 18, 2009) – Kausik Si, Ph.D., Assistant Investigator at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research, has been selected for a 2009 McKnight Scholar Award by the McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience.

     The McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience works to bring science closer to the day when diseases of the brain and behavior can be accurately diagnosed, prevented, and treated. To that end, the Endowment Fund supports innovative research through three competitive annual awards.

     The McKnight Scholar Award provides $225,000 over three years and is designed to encourage neuroscientists in the early stages of their careers to focus on disorders of learning and memory. Dr. Si will use the funding to pursue the role of a specific molecule in the persistence of memory.

     “We believe that long-term memory may recruit a molecule, called CPEB, at the activated synapse, which maintains memory through the persistent synthesis of a specific set of synaptic proteins,” said Dr. Si. “With this support from the McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience, we will be able to pursue this possibility and contribute to a better understanding of memory and memory-related disorders.”

     “Dr. Si and his team apply innovative concepts to understanding of the persistence of memory,” said William B. Neaves, Ph.D., President and CEO. “It is gratifying that the McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience has recognized the potential of Dr. Si’s work and has provided funding that will surely advance its pace.”

     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 Klingenstein Fellow in the Neurosciences in 2008, 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 for Medical Research
     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, treating, and curing disease. Jim and Virginia Stowers endowed the Institute with gifts totaling $2 billion. The endowment resides in a large cash reserve and in substantial ownership of American Century Investments, a privately held mutual fund company that represents exceptional value for the Institute’s future.