Gilad Barnea, assistant professor of neuroscience, was named one of 20 Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences on June 12, 2008, joining a cohort described as “America's most promising scientists.” Barnea’s research focuses on the neural circuits that power a mouse’s sense of smell and how olfactory information moves from the nose to the brain.

This year’s biomedical scholars were chosen by the Pew Charitable Trusts from among 117 nominees. Those selected were honored for “demonstrat(ing) excellence and innovation in their research,” according to the trust’s announcement. Scholars receive a $240,000 award over four years to help support their research.

Barnea received a Ph.D. in pharmacology from New York University in 1996 and pursued postdoctoral studies at Columbia. In 2007 he became an assistant professor of neuroscience at Brown.

Barnea plans to map out the neural circuits that power the mouse’s sense of smell. When odor molecules enter the nose, they bind to special olfactory receptors present on sensory cells that line the nasal cavity. Each sensory cell produces only one of a possible thousand or so olfactory receptors, and every receptor corresponds to only a specific set of scent molecules. Thus, for every smell, a distinct set of sensory cells that recognize that particular odor transmits the information to the olfactory bulb, which then relays the signal to the brain areas that handle olfactory information.

How the brain decodes that information is not known, but Barnea believes that a first step toward understanding the process involves learning exactly how all these nerve cells are wired together. As a postdoctoral fellow, he developed a novel method for labeling neurons in mice so that nerve cells on the receiving end of a neuronal signal can be identified. Using this unique system, Barnea now will investigate how olfactory information passes from the nose to the brain. His results could lead to a deeper understanding of how organisms recognize specific odors that then trigger behavioral responses (for example, recognizing a smell as the kind of smoke necessitating a flight response).

“Pew’s program in the biomedical sciences is designed to enable scientists to take calculated risks, expand their research, and follow unanticipated leads,” said Rebecca W. Rimel, president and CEO of the Pew Charitable Trusts. “Pew is honored to invest in these brilliant minds, and to provide financial and professional support as they pursue their pioneering breakthroughs.”