The Sloan Foundation Announced on February 14, 2013 that MCDB Assistant Professor Sara Aton is a 2013 Fellow in Neuroscience. The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is a philanthropic, not-for-profit grant-making institution based in New York, established in 1934 by Alfred Pritchard Sloan Jr., then-president and chief executive officer of General Motors Corp.

Aton's lab is studying how various changes in the brain unique to sleep affect brain circuits and cognitive function. She is especially interested in how sleep contributes to a process called consolidation, which drives adaptive changes in the brain following new experiences, like learning a new task. Consolidation is critical for turning brief experiences into long-lasting memories.

"I'm honored that evidently others are as enthusiastic about our lab's work as I am," Aton said. 

"The list of Sloan fellows in neuroscience from years past is a virtual who's-who of the field, and includes many of my scientific role models." Aton's lab: www.mcdb.lsa.umich.edu/labs/saton/

The Sloan program seeks to recognize the achievements of outstanding young scholars in science, mathematics, economics and computer science. Past recipients of Sloan Research Fellowships have gone on to win Nobel prizes, Fields Medals (mathematics), and John Bates Clark Medals (economics). Previous Sloan Fellows in Neuroscience on the MCDB Faculty are Pamela Raymond, Steven S. Easter Professor and Chair (1984), Richard Hume, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor and Acting Chair (1984) and Haoxing Xu, Associate Professor (2009). Associate Professor Patricia Wittkopp was a Sloan Fellow in Evolutionary Molecular Biology (2008).

Additional information about the Sloan Awards and Professor Aton can be found at:

UM News Service: U-Michigan celebrates three Sloan Fellowships for research

The Michigan Daily: Faculty receive grants to fund lab research 

Sara Aton's Lab