Kashmir professor receives ‘McKnight Scholar Award’

Srinagar, June 24: Mubarak Hussain Syed, a Kashmiri Assistant Professor, Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM has received the “2024 McKnight Scholar Award.”
Syed, a resident of Wahabpora Budgam is one of 10 neuroscientists selected by “The McKnight Endowment Fund” for Neuroscience board of directors to receive the award.
The prestigious early-career award introduced in 1977, has funded 281 innovative investigators and spurred hundreds of breakthrough discoveries. Other 2024 recipients are from Princeton University, University of California, Columbia University, and Stanford University.
The McKnight Scholar Award firmly places Dr. Syed among neuroscience’s most promising young researchers. With his project, Molecular Mechanisms Regulating Neural Diversity: From Stem Cells to Circuits, Syed will investigate what determines how neurons of different types arise from neural stem cells and how developmental factors specify adult behaviors.
Through loss-of-function and gain-of-function experiments targeting those proteins and pathways, Syed’s team will learn the mechanism through which they change the fates of the neurons and what effect that has on behaviors.
Further experiments will look at how circuits of the higher-order brain regions are formed, hypothesizing that other cell types in the circuit arise from different NSCs at similar times.
“The goal is understanding how brain cell types and circuits develop. Our brain regulates multiple behaviors, like olfaction and navigation. We are interested in understanding how developmental cues shape behaviours,” Syed said.
Furthermore, as an advocate for promoting science education to youth from groups underrepresented in the field, he will work through his program called Pueblo Brain Science to train and mentor the next generation of diverse neuroscientists as he conducts his research.
As a McKnight Scholar Award recipient, Syed will receive $75,000 per year for three years.
“All my trainees, which include mostly undergraduates and graduates, will be involved in research. This award is very prestigious. In addition to funds, it will help me get recognized in the field and be part of a community of the finest neuroscientists,” he said.
It was in 2011 when Syed felt a need to find a way to foster science and education in Jammu and Kashmir and formed a non-profit organization JKScientists (JKS).
JKS is solely run by Kashmiri researchers driven by a mission to foster scientific temperament among Kashmiri youth, in particular, those coming from underprivileged and underrepresented backgrounds.
This award, among many others, is a testament to Syed’s hard work, dedication, and passion for science. At JK Scientists, Syed is a vocal and passionate advocate for science and diversity, consistently championing these values within our community.
As the Director of JK Scientists, Syed has been instrumental in shaping students’ careers through his far-sighted vision of mentoring the next generation of students and academicians.
The McKnight Scholar Awards are granted to young scientists who are in the early stages of establishing their own independent laboratories and research careers and who have demonstrated a commitment to neuroscience.