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Dr. Natasha O'Brown Named 2025 HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholar
The Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience is thrilled to announce that Dr. Natasha O'Brown has been named a 2025 Freeman Hrabowski Scholar by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI). This prestigious award provides up to $8.6 million over ten years to support early-career faculty who demonstrate exceptional scientific promise and a deep commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in science.
Dr. O’Brown is the only current HHMI Scholar at Rutgers University and the first Rutgers faculty member to receive HHMI support in over a decade.
Her lab uses zebrafish as a primary model system to understand how the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is created during development and how it becomes disrupted in disease. By combining genetics, single-cell analysis, and live imaging, her research uncovers the cellular and molecular signals that regulate BBB function, with far-reaching implications for neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders.
Dr. O’Brown’s selection as a Freeman Hrabowski Scholar reflects both the innovation of her research and her leadership in building a more inclusive biomedical research community.
- Referenced Person: O'Brown, Natasha