Columbia University

$75,000

To support research by John Merck Scholar Rafael Yuste, MD, PhD, for cortical development focusing on the understanding of dendritic filopodia using two-photon microscopy.  Final installment of a four-year, $300,000 grant.

Columbia University, College of Physicians & Surgeons

$10,000

To support research by John Merck Scholar Peter Scheiffele, PhD, on the regulation of synaptic development by the neurexin-neuroligin complex. First installment of a four-year, $235,000 grant.

Cornell University, Weill Medical College

$75,000

To support research by John Merck Scholar Bruce McCandliss, PhD, on the development of visual word recognition skills, a cognitive neuroscience approach to normal function, impairment and intervention.  Third installment of a four-year, $300,000 grant.

Cornell University, Weill Medical College

$50,000

To conduct a 2004 summer institute on the biology of developmental disabilities.

Duke University

$75,000

To support research by John Merck Scholar Elizabeth Brannon, PhD, on the evolution and ontogeny of mathematical abilities. Second installment of a four-year, $300,000 grant.

Harvard Medical School

$75,000

To support research by John Merck Scholar Zhigang He, PhD, on repulsive mechanisms in axon pathfinding and regeneration.  Final installment of a four-year, $300,000 grant.

Harvard Medical School

$75,000

To support research by John Merck Scholar Dietmar Schmucker, PhD, on the functional and molecular analysis of the DSCAM family of neuronal immunoglobulin receptors.  First installment of a four-year, $300,000 grant.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

$75,000

To support research by John Merck Scholar Pawan Sinha, PhD, on characterizing and improving face-processing skills in autistic and visually deprived children. Second installment of a four-year, $300,000 grant.

The Rockefeller University

$75,000

To support research by John Merck Scholar Leslie Vosshall, PhD, on olfactory perception and the encoding of preference. Third installment of a four-year, $300,000 grant.

Stanford University School of Medicine

$10,000

To support research by John Merck Scholar Finalist Tirin Moore.

University of California, Davis

$75,000

To support research by John Merck Scholar Kimberley McAllister, PhD, on cellular mechanisms of mental retardation. Second installment of a four-year, $300,000 grant.

University of California, San Francisco

$75,000

To support research by John Merck Scholar Samuel Pleasure, MD, PhD, on developmental signaling systems in development of the hippocampus. Final installment of a four-year, $300,000 grant.

University of California, San Francisco

$75,000

To support research by John Merck Scholar Loren Frank, PhD, on the neural correlates of learning in the hippocampal-cortical circuit. First installment of a four-year, $300,000 grant.

University of Massachusetts Medical School

$75,000

To support research by John Merck Scholar Ann Skoczenski, PhD, on visual processing in children with dyslexia and their siblings. This is a special, one-year award.

Washington University in St. Louis

$75,000

To support research by John Merck Scholar Bradley L. Schlaggar, MD, PhD, on the normal and abnormal development of cognitive control using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Third installment of a four-year, $300,000 grant.

Yale University

$10,000

To support research by John Merck Scholar Finalist Weimin Zhong.