Two Boston University researchers have received prestigious awards from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for their efforts to improve sexual well-being and to stop mosquitoes from biting us.
Julia Bond (SPH’24), a BU School of Public Health assistant professor (appointment pending) of epidemiology, has been awarded the NIH Director’s Early Independence Award, which “supports promising, newly graduated scientists” with “intellect, scientific creativity, drive, and maturity” in jumping right into independent research careers, skipping the traditional postdoc route. She’ll use the award’s funding—up to $250,000 annually, for up to five years—to study how sexual wellness prior to pregnancy is linked to conception.
Meg Younger , a BU College of Arts & Sciences assistant professor of biology, received the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, which is for “exceptionally creative early career scientists proposing innovative, high-impact projects”; it comes with $475,000 annually for five years. She’ll use the funding to investigate new techniques for unraveling mosquitoes’ sophisticated sense of smell that allows them to track down humans to bite. Younger is also affiliated with BU’s Neurophotonics Center and Center for Systems Neuroscience.
For additional information about the Boston University faculty members and their work, click here .