PECASE honors Dr. Alexandra C. McPherron, a tenure-track investigator in NIDDK.

Eleven NIH grantees and one intramural scientist have been selected by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to be among this year’s 58 researchers to receive the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

“NIH is extraordinarily proud of supporting 12 PECASE winners who have, early in their research careers, shown exceptional potential for scientific leadership during the 21st century—the essence of this award,” said NIH director Dr. Elias Zerhouni. “We look forward to continued innovation from these outstanding investigators as they push the frontiers of medical research during this pivotal time for scientific discovery.”

The intramural scientist is Dr. Alexandra C. McPherron, a tenure-track investigator in the Genetics of Development and Disease Branch, NIDDK. She was honored “for outstanding research in regulation of muscle growth.”

Her research focuses on myostatin, a protein produced by skeletal muscle. Myostatin regulates muscle size and growth and the lack of myostatin leads to dramatic and widespread increases in skeletal muscle mass. McPherron and colleagues have worked with myostatin knock-out mice, as well as “double-muscled” cattle, to discover the role of myostatin in metabolism. Research on myostatin may eventually lead to a better understanding of muscle-wasting diseases such as the muscular dystrophies and cachexia caused by cancer or AIDS, and other metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity.

The extramural honorees include: Dr. Katerina Akassoglou, NINDS, University of California, San Diego; Dr. Jeanmarie Houghton, NCI, University of Massachusetts; Dr. Jay R. Hove, NCRR, University of Cincinnati; Dr. Sven-Eric Jordt, NIEHS, Yale University; Dr. Susan M. Keach, NIAID, Yale; Dr. Bruce D. McCandliss, NIDCD, Cornell University; Dr. Gus R. Rosania, NIGMS, University of Michigan; Dr. J. Peter Rubin, NCI, University of Pittsburgh; Dr. Ravindra N. Singh, NINDS, UMass; Dr. Michelle P. Winn, NIDDK, Duke University; Dr. Adam T. Woolley, NIBIB, Brigham Young University.

Since the program began in 1996, NIH has funded a total of 129 PECASE recipients.