Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) awarded President and Fellows of Harvard College $647,706 under the Biomedical Research and Research Training program (CFDA 93.859) for a five-year project period from March 1, 2026, through February 28, 2031. The Brown Lab at Harvard Medical School will conduct fundamental research to elucidate the molecular mechanisms regulating eukaryotic motile ciliary function, with specific focus on understanding how axonemal subcomplexes—comprising microtubules, dynein motors, and mechanoregulatory complexes—assemble and operate to generate adaptive ciliary waveforms.

The research deliverables will be generated through a multidisciplinary approach combining genetics, biochemical purification of native protein complexes, quantitative proteomics, single-particle analysis cryo-electron microscopy (SPA cryo-EM), and in-situ structural characterization using Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as the model organism. The project will produce robust, structurally accurate atomic models of axonemal assembly and function that advance fundamental understanding of ciliary motility mechanisms and large-scale cellular complex assembly. These findings are expected to have implications for human ciliary biology, reproductive biology, and infectious disease pathogenesis related to parasite motility.