November 3, 2016
Aleksander Rebane was awarded the competitive Ruth L. Kirschstein predoctoral fellowship by NIH. The funding will be for two years and cover my tuition as well as my stipend. In my proposed research titled “Direct single-molecule observation of regulated SNARE assembly”, I utilize optical tweezers to reveal how neurotransmitter release at nerve endings is regulated on a molecular level. My work aims at a fundamental understanding of how nerve cells communicate, and how dysfunction in this process may lead to neurological disease.