Andrea Giovannucci, PhD, assistant professor in the UNC/NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering and the UNC Neuroscience Center, was one of 10 young scientists selected from a pool of more than 300 for this prestigious recognition.
The Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation announced the selection of its 2020 class of Beckman Young Investigator Awardees from U.S. colleges and universities. One of the 10 researchers selected was Andrea Giovannucci, PhD, assistant professor in the UNC/NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering and member of the UNC Neuroscience Center.
Giovannuci, who was awarded $600,000 over four years, leads the neural engineering laboratory (NEL) on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus. This lab studies how different learning and sensing mechanisms interact within the brain, with the final goal of developing neural prostheses to recover lost motor or cognitive functions.
The lab research is both experimental and computational, with strong emphasis on optical brain imaging and machine learning applied to data analysis. The NEL lab develops tools for simultaneous recording, modulation and real time extraction of neural dynamics at different brain locations and scales. The lab also supports open-source and open-science, distributing its tools as free resources for the scientific community.
The Beckman awardees exemplify the foundation’s mission of supporting the most promising young faculty members in the early stages of their academic careers in the chemical and life sciences, particularly to foster the invention of methods, instruments, and materials that will open new avenues of research in science. They were selected from a pool of over 300 applicants after a three-part review led by a panel of scientific experts.
Read more at the foundation website.