14 Jun Monell Center Scientist Among the 2022 Class of Pew Scholars
For Immediate Release
Contact: Karen Kreeger, kkreeger@monell.org
(PHILADELPHIA) — The Pew Charitable Trusts announced today the newest class of the Pew Scholars Program in the Biomedical Sciences. Amber L. Alhadeff, PhD, an Assistant Member at the Monell Chemical Senses Center, is among the 22 early-career scientists who will receive four years of support to explore some of the most pressing questions in health and medicine. Dr. Alhadeff’s research centers on unravelling the neural circuits that link nutrient sensing and feeding.
Amber Alhadeff, PhD
“I am very grateful to be recognized as a Pew Scholar,” she said. “This award will help my lab continue its work on how gut-brain connections influence eating behavior in order to fight diseases like obesity and diabetes.” The 2022 class of scholars—all early career, junior faculty—joins a rich network of the more than 1,000 scientists who have received awards from Pew since 1985.
“We are delighted that such a prestigious institution as Pew is recognizing the importance of research on feeding behavior and nutrition,” said Monell Director and President Robert F. Margolskee, MD, PhD. “And even more pleased that the very first scientist we nominated, Amber Alhadeff, received the award. Her cutting-edge research has the potential to provide inroads into understanding the underpinnings of appetite and over-eating.”
“Biomedical innovation is essential to solving both current and emerging global health issues,” said Susan K. Urahn, Pew’s president and CEO. “We are pleased to support this talented and inspiring cohort and their research.”
Alhadeff received her PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, after which she joined the laboratory of J. Nicholas Betley at Penn for her postdoctoral training. In 2020, she joined Monell, where she continues her work on gut-brain signaling pathways and is passionate about mentorship and promoting the advancement of underrepresented scientists. She is also a recipient of a NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award, the L’Oreal USA for Women in Science Award, the Klingenstein-Simons Foundation Award in Neuroscience, the American Heart Association Career Development Award, an NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, and the 2021 Eppendorf & Science Prize for Neurobiology.
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The Monell Chemical Senses Center is an independent nonprofit basic research institute based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1968, Monell‘s mission is to improve health and well-being by advancing the scientific understanding of taste, smell, and related senses, where our discoveries lead to improving nutritional health, diagnosing, and treating disease, addressing smell and taste loss, and digitizing chemosensory data.