2 Purdue faculty members win NIH grants for brain research

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) – Purdue University says two researchers have been awarded grants from the National Institutes of Health for brain research.

Assistant professor Meng Cui of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Biological Sciences, received a $1.4 million grant. She’ll lead a research team harnessing the same kind of adaptive optics technology used in astronomy for a new system to take non-invasive images of the brain’s cortex.

Assistant chemistry professor Mathew Tantama received a grant of $450,000 to create an optical sensor to detect and follow neuropeptides. Those are molecules involved in cell signaling and communication.

Theirs are among 67 new awards totaling more than $38 million announced by NIH last month.