Rodent-brain research grant: $45,000

Andrew Edwards

Three members of UC Irvine’s Center for Complex Biological Systems

have won what just about any young professional would want --

thousands of dollars without any strings attached.

UCI announced Monday that three researchers, Natalia Komarova,

Frances Chance and Thorsten Ritz were among 116 academics nationwide

to be awarded Sloan Research Fellowships.

Ritz said he and his colleagues were given $45,000 grants they can

spend on any research projects they choose.

“Since it is one of these awards that give you more leeway to use

the funds, I will use it for projects that are -- how do you say --

risky,” Ritz said.

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has awarded fellowships to younger

scientists since 1955, and Ritz, a 33-year-old physicist, plans to

study how animals can sense the earth’s magnetic field. Ritz said

birds have an ability to sense magnetism, but he wanted to find out

if another organism had similar abilities, though he did give any

more specifics.

“Other people may get ideas,” he said.

Ritz said the fellowship provides him more freedom than other

grants because he is not under pressure to provide results quickly.

His research could be considered more risky than other projects, he

said, because, scientists have not compiled a lot of data on his

topic.

Komarova, 33, uses mathematical models and concepts of

evolutionary biology to study cancer treatment. Her research takes a

theoretical approach, using paper and pencil more than lab tools.

“I don’t have, mice and I don’t have petri dishes,” Komarova said.

One application of Komarova’s research, she said, is to calculate

the probability that a cancer cell would resist a type of medication.

She said her work can be applied to help doctors develop a drug

cocktail that could defeat malignant cells.

Chance, 31, uses slices of rodent brains, mixed with a bit of

scientific theory, to study attention and how the brain processes

information in different environments.

“I’m interested in how circuits compute,” Chance said.

She said her studies could be used to understand attention-deficit

disorder better and develop electronic-image-processing technology.

“I think there might be uses for computer vision, because some of

our work focuses on vision processes,” she said.

Another benefit of her studies, she said, is the value of learning

more.

“It’s just cool to know how the brain works,” she said.

* ANDREW EDWARDS covers business and the environment. He can be

reached at (714) 966-4624 or by e-mail at andrew.edwards

@latimes.com.