{"670950":{"#nid":"670950","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Coskun Receives $1.86 Million NIH MIRA Award to Map Spatial Molecular Neighborhoods","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAhmet Coskun has a saying on the homepage of his\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.coskunlab.org\/\u0022\u003Elab\u2019s website\u003C\/a\u003E: \u201cSeeing is believing. Quantifying is proving.\u201d So, with that in mind, Coskun and his team have developed multiplex imaging tools and combined them with machine learning techniques \u2013 for believing and quantifying.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENow, to support Coskun\u2019s research, the National Institutes of Health has granted him the prestigious\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.nigms.nih.gov\/Research\/mechanisms\/MIRA\u0022\u003EMaximizing Investigator\u2019s Research Award\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;(MIRA) from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences.\u0026nbsp;Coskun and his team will use the five-year, $1.86 million award for a project entitled,\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/reporter.nih.gov\/search\/5p7V3M55MEmKfNbVMqn87g\/project-details\/10713565\u0022\u003E\u201cDissecting subcellular and cellular organization by spatial molecular neighborhood networks.\u201d\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThey plan to probe subcellular and cellular organization, counting molecular neighborhoods\u0026nbsp;and building maps to help researchers better understand the spatial organization of cells and molecules, insights that can open the door to game-changing personalized treatments for multiple diseases.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe spatial organization of these neighborhoods, of RNA and protein molecules, is important for cellular function,\u201d said Coskun,\u0026nbsp;a Bernie Marcus Early Career Professor in the Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. \u201cSo, we\u2019re basically making maps of molecules within the cell.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe maps can ultimately help researchers identify cell types that would best treat various diseases, while also explaining why some patients will respond to a particular treatment, and others won\u2019t.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe NIH\u2019s MIRA program provides researchers with greater stability and flexibility in funding while enhancing their ability to creatively tackle ambitious scientific problems. And part of the aim, said Coskun, \u201cis to address basic biology questions that have implications on multiple diseases in the future. This single cell work has that kind of potential.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor Coskun, the MIRA is the next phase of support in a flurry of awards that have come his way recently: it\u2019s the fifth NIH grant his lab has received this year, with a total value of $3.6 million.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThis year has been a great year for us,\u201d said Coskun. \u201cIt\u2019s encouraging to receive this kind of recognition and support for research and technology that we believe will play an important role in the lives of patients.\u201d\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech researcher probing subcellular and cellular organization, counting molecular neighborhoods\u0026nbsp;and building maps to better understand the spatial organization of cells and molecules, opening the door to game-changing personalized treatments for multiple diseases.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech researcher plans to probe subcellular and cellular organization, counting molecular neighborhoods and building to better understand the spatial organization of cells."}],"uid":"28153","created_gmt":"2023-11-08 17:20:38","changed_gmt":"2023-11-08 19:03:58","author":"Jerry Grillo","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-11-08T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2023-11-08T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"672304":{"id":"672304","type":"image","title":"Ahmet Co\u015fkun","body":"\u003Cp\u003EAhmet Co\u015fkun\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","created":"1699463592","gmt_created":"2023-11-08 17:13:12","changed":"1699463781","gmt_changed":"2023-11-08 17:16:21","alt":"Ahmet Coskun was awarded $1.86 Million to map spatial molecular neighborhoods.","file":{"fid":"255523","name":"New Coskun photo.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/11\/08\/New%20Coskun%20photo.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2023\/11\/08\/New%20Coskun%20photo.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4425299,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2023\/11\/08\/New%20Coskun%20photo.jpg?itok=0FXnO7Kp"}}},"media_ids":["672304"],"groups":[{"id":"1292","name":"Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience (IBB)"}],"categories":[{"id":"138","name":"Biotechnology, Health, Bioengineering, Genetics"}],"keywords":[{"id":"191366","name":"multiplexed imaging"},{"id":"187423","name":"go-bio"},{"id":"9167","name":"machine learning"},{"id":"2270","name":"National Institutes of Health"},{"id":"186853","name":"Ahmet Coskun"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39441","name":"Bioengineering and Bioscience"}],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71891","name":"Health and Medicine"},{"id":"71881","name":"Science and Technology"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EWriter: \u003Ca href=\u0022jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EJerry Grillo\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["jerry.grillo@ibb.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}