“In this stimulating environment, projects transformed, matured, and perfected right in front of our eyes. Everyone gained something from this eye-opening experience, including ideas, partnerships, and new collaborators.”

—Li Li, MD, Director of Laboratory of Translational Cancer Research and an Associate Director of Laboratory of Cellular Immunology, Ochsner Clinic Foundation

Finding a Common Thread

When mechanical engineer Carlotta Mummolo, PhD, neurobiologist Eleni Gourgou, PhD, and neuroscientist Teppei Matsui, PhD, teamed up in the Interstellar Initiative, their first task was finding common ground. “We have such diverse backgrounds that I initially joked we were speaking different languages,” Mummolo said in a group interview.

Mummolo, from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, is a roboticist who works with humans.  Matsui, from the University of Tokyo, uses rodents to study brain imaging. Gourgou, from the University of Michigan, studies roundworms. How could they possibly tap their diverse expertise to find a research question in healthy aging, the focus of the 2019/2020 Interstellar Initiative?

“We tried to find a common thread that allows us to use three different organisms as three different approaches to address the same target, Gourgou said. “That thread turned out to be locomotion and cognition.” Mummolo added, “this is the novelty of our project, because assessments of motor and cognitive performance are usually done separately. But we wanted to integrate them and look for a methodology that translates across species.”

The team said their research project was aided by mentors, who offered good advice to make their project as appealing as possible to grant reviewers. “One of our mentors told us something that I’ve kept in mind throughout this project,” Mummolo said. “She told us to focus on integration, innovation, and impact. That was very helpful.”

Matsui explained why he thought the global collaboration at the heart of the Interstellar Initiative was especially valuable for research in the life sciences. “Biology is becoming a ‘big science’ these days, and it is necessary to form a big team of experts to do cutting-edge science,” he said. “For small countries like Japan, it can be difficult to find experts within the country.”

Matsui also had a good final word in the discussion: “I’d encourage young scientists to apply for the Interstellar Initiative.”

Coming up with a New Approach

When a radiation oncologist, an immunologist, and a mechanical engineer teamed up during the 2018/2019 Interstellar Initiative, they pulled themselves out of an early failure. “During preliminary experiments, we found that our initial proposal wouldn’t have worked,” said Michael Pacold, MD, PhD, of New York University. Taisuke Kondo, PhD, of Keio University, elaborated: “The therapy we were proposing was potentially very dangerous because of adverse effects for normal lung tissues.”

The pair, and Edmond Young, PhD, of the University of Toronto, were looking for a research project in the field of pancreatic cancer. As they collaborated virtually, after their first in-person workshop, they settled on an alternative approach. They would study metabolic features of the disease that make it insensitive to therapies that can be effective against other types of cancer.

“This new approach makes for a more focused grant,” said Young. “We’re answering a basic question that could have major impact across the board in basic science. The Interstellar Initiative has been very helpful. The first workshop was a meet-and-greet, shaking hands and getting to know one another. Six months later we have met again to parse out further details and receive mentored feedback.”

Pacold summed things up: “In science you have to be comfortable with the realization that you will be wrong. Often. Don’t be afraid of being wrong, look at what the data is telling you and adjust accordingly.”

New Strategies to Restore Neuronal Function

When Japanese physicist Kumiko Hayashi of Tohoku University and neuroscientist Ephraim Trakhtenberg of the University of Connecticut met during the 2017 Interstellar Initiative, the synergies between their work were not immediately obvious. Through the Interstellar Initiative program, they discovered common ground that led to an exciting new research proposal. Hayashi and Trakhtenberg aimed to devise new strategies to restore neuronal function following injury. As human cells mature, their ability to replicate is severely reduced. This phenomenon is especially prevalent in the brain, where the creation of new neurons exists only at very low levels in adulthood. Trakhtenberg’s work suggests that motor proteins may be involved in this loss. “If we can understand the dynamics of these proteins, we may be able to reverse the process,” he said., During the past several years, Hayashi developed novel algorithms that can be applied to motor protein measurement and analysis. “I don’t know much about neuroscience,” she said, “but it turns out that my algorithms can illuminate some mechanisms of the brain.” Using Hayashi’s algorithm and Trakhtenberg’s motor proteins expertise, the two hope to identify new therapeutic approaches that will help to increase the regeneration of neuronal function following injury.