Huiwang Ai, PhD
Huiwang Ai, PhD, an associate professor in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biological Physics and the Center for Membrane and Cell Physiology, received two R01 grants from the NIH for $2.6 million and $2.7 million in funding over the next five and four years, respectively. The five-year grant will support Ai and team, including Co-Investigator Heather Ferris, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of the Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, in efforts to develop genetically encoded redox indicators for studying oxidative stress in the brain in Alzheimer’s disease during disease progression and in response to interventions. The other grant will support Ai and co-workers in developing genetically encoded fluorescent zinc indicators to understand the roles and spatiotemporal dynamics of cortical synaptic zinc signaling in sound processing and hearing disorder.
Ai’s research program focuses on developing novel fluorescent and bioluminescent biosensors to peer into cells and organisms to understand signaling. Read more about his research at https://med.virginia.edu/ai-lab/