Buwei Shao Awarded ISF Breakthrough Grant
The grant will support a research visit to Prof. Nadav Ahituv’s lab at UCSF, advancing Shao’s research on hearing genomics and hereditary hearing loss.
Buwei Shao has been awarded a Breakthrough Grant from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), supporting a research visit to the laboratory of Prof. Nadav Ahituv at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
Shao is a Ph.D. student in the Laboratory of Neural and Sensory Genomics, under the supervision of Prof. Karen B. Avraham at the Gray School of Medical Sciences.
His doctoral research explores how cis-regulatory elements control the expression of genes involved in hearing. By integrating multi-omics data from the developing mouse inner ear, he aims to identify enhancers that regulate genes associated with deafness. He will then investigate the function of candidate enhancers, with the goal of laying the groundwork for enhancer-based gene therapy approaches for the targeted treatment of hereditary hearing loss.
During his visit to Prof. Ahituv’s laboratory, Shao will gain expertise in advanced high-throughput functional screening technologies. These tools are expected to expand his research capabilities and support the development of new therapeutic strategies.
The Gray Faculty congratulates Shao on receiving the grant and wishes him a productive research visit at UCSF and continued success in his research.
