Neuroscientists receive McKnight Scholar Awards

Indian-origin neuroscientists Swetha Murthy and Karthik Shekhar have been recognized by the McKnight Foundation as recipients of the 2023 McKnight Scholar Awards. The foundation has chosen ten neuroscientists this year to receive the prestigious award.

Swetha Murthy, an assistant professor at Vollum Institute, has been granted the award to advance her research on cellular morphology. Her focus lies in exploring mechanosensation as a guide for cellular morphology, which has significant implications for neural health. Murthy, who grew up in South India, obtained her graduate and master’s degrees from Bangalore University and completed her PhD in Biochemistry from the State University of New York, Buffalo in 2012.

Karthik Shekhar, an assistant professor at the University of California, Berkeley, has also received the award to further his research on the visual system of the brain. His work involves studying the evolutionary conservation and divergence of neuronal types in the retina of various vertebrate species, aiming to reconstruct the evolution of neural diversity. Shekhar, who is currently an SRF visiting Scholar, has previously received accolades such as the NIH Pathway to Independence Award and the Jerry and Geraldine S. McAfee Fellowship. He obtained his graduate and master’s degrees from IIT Bombay and completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The McKnight Scholar Awards are bestowed upon young scientists who are in the early stages of establishing their own independent laboratories and research careers, demonstrating a strong commitment to the field of neuroscience.