UCLA neuroscience researcher named 2017 Wunderkind by STAT News
(Courtesy of Newsroom)
By Emi Nakahara
Nov. 5, 2017 9:37 p.m.
A science news publication recognized a UCLA researcher for her early career research on defective circuits in the brain last month.
Anubhuti Goel, a postdoctoral researcher in neuroscience, was named a 2017 Wunderkind by STAT News, a medicine and health publication. The award recognizes research nominees who are not yet independent in their research careers and often work with senior scientists.
Goel’s research under Carlos Portera-Cailliau, a professor of neurology, focuses on how defective circuits in the brain can lead to disorders such as autism.
According to STAT News, Goel has researched how mice with a genetic disorder known as Fragile X Syndrome, which can occur with autism, adapt to different stimuli compared with normal mice. She discovered mice with the genetic disorder took longer to adapt to different stimuli than normal mice because a certain group of cells in their brains were malfunctioning.
Goel also gave the Arnold Scheibel Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow in Neuroscience Lecture, which honors a postdoctoral fellow for novel neuroscience research, at the UCLA Brain Research Institute in October, speaking about her research on brain connectivity abnormalities in mice with Fragile X Syndrome.
Goel is now applying her discovery to humans in Portera-Cailliau’s lab. According to a press release, Portera-Cailliau nominated Goel to be named Wunderkind for her scientific imagination, interpersonal skills and work ethic. Goel said in the press release she hopes to set up her own independent lab in the coming year.
