Sarahi wins the Chemical Physiology T32 award!

Today we are proud to celebrate Sarahi Garza, who was awarded a stipend from our Chemical Physiology T32 training grant!

Sarahi joined the Frank lab in 2021 with the goal of applying photoswitchable ligands to study the neural circuitry that controls sugar consumption.

Sarahi will apply already-synthesized tools to the brain’s reward circuitry using multifunctional neural implants. She will implant brain probes into mice, through which she can inject photoswitchable ligands and shine a light to activate cannabinoid receptors during feeding. She will also use fiber photometry to visualize the activity of these neurons and their downstream projections during sugar consumption. This work will illuminate novel mechanisms by which cannabinoid signaling mediates palatability and sugar over-consumption and could have implications for diseases like diabetes and obesity.

The fellowship covers Sarahi’s stipend for one year and provides an opportunity for her to advance her training in Chemical Biology.

Congratulations Sarahi! We are excited to have you representing our training program this year.