“Genius” Life Scientists Get Grants

Fellowship awardee and research psychologist Angela Duckworth’s work to understand human behavior has led to the development of evidence-based learning interventions for children. Susan Murphy, another winner and a professor at the University of Michigan, uses statistics to understand how people with depression, schizophrenia, or cocaine abuse problems can be helped by better data collection. MacArthur Fellow Phil Baran, an organic chemist at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, has developed new ways to synthesize natural products with potential pharmaceutical applications, including an antiangiogenic compound that could be useful as a cancer treatment. Kevin Boyce, another California-based grantee, is a paleobotanist at Stanford University. Boyce uses fossils to understand how plant evolution has shaped weather patterns in our ecosystem.

Jeffrey Brenner is a physician who has used his self-professed “passion for data” to improve healthcare for the most underserved residents of Camden, N.J. “It’s really exciting to get a vote of confidence,” he said of becoming a fellow in a MacArthur Foundation video. Brenner wants to improve healthcare quality while reducing costs citywide. “This fellowship puts a huge amount of momentum behind that effort,” he added.