Erin M. Schuman Wins 2026 Nakasone Award for Discovery on Neural Synapse Function and Change During Formation of Memories
Schuman's groundbreaking research revealed that proteins critical for neuron communication, plasticity and memory storage, are produced locally at synapses, the junctions between neurons. This insight overturns the previous belief that all proteins are made in the cell body and then shipped out to synapses where they function.
"HFSPO is thrilled to honor Dr. Erin Schuman as her discovery is influencing the entire field of neuroscience where the focus is increasingly on individual synapses, rather than whole neurons," said HFSPO Secretary-General Pavel Kabat. "This is the nature of the Nakasone Award: it is given to those pioneers who literally advance the frontiers of a whole discipline."
The HFSP Nakasone Award was established in 2010 to honor scientists who have made key breakthroughs in fields at the forefront of the life sciences. It recognizes the vision of Japan's former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone, who envisioned and created the International Human Frontier Science Program beginning with a charter by the global leaders of the G7 nations in 1987.
Schuman is the managing director at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Frankfurt, Germany. She moved from her faculty position at the California Institute of Technology to join the Max Planck Society in 2009. A native of the United States of America, she is a member of EMBO, and the German and U.S. National Academies of Science as well the UK's Royal Society. Her research has garnered numerous awards, most recently the Brain Prize in 2023 and Körber European Science Prize in 2024. She is a co-opted Professor of Biology at Goethe University in Frankfurt and professor of Synaptic Function and Plasticity at the Donders Center for Neuroscience and the Faculty of Science of Radboud University in the Netherlands.
For full details on Schuman's discoveries, standing, and citations, please see HFSP full description of the 2026 Nakasone Award.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Cision Canada
4 hours ago
- Cision Canada
IBM and NASA Release Groundbreaking Open-Source AI Model on Hugging Face to Predict Solar Weather and Help Protect Critical Technology
The first heliophysics AI foundation model trained on high resolution solar observation data offers insights into the Sun's dynamic surface, helping plan for solar weather that can disrupt technology on Earth and in space Openly available on Hugging Face, the model was built to speed up scientific discovery and democratize AI for the global research and technology community YORKTOWN HEIGHTS, N.Y., Aug. 20, 2025 /CNW/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) and NASA today unveiled the most advanced open-source foundation model designed to understand high resolution solar observation data and predict how solar activity affects Earth and space-based technology. Surya, named for the Sanskrit word for the Sun, represents a significant advancement in applying AI to solar image interpretation and space weather forecasting research, providing a novel tool to help protect everything from GPS navigation to power grids to telecommunications from the Sun's ever-changing nature. The Sun may be 93 million miles away, but its impact on modern life is immediate and growing. Solar flares and coronal mass ejections can knock out satellites, disrupt airline navigation, trigger power blackouts, and pose serious radiation risks to astronauts. With humanity's increasing dependence on space-based technology and plans for deeper space exploration, accurate solar weather prediction has become critical. As humanity's technological dependence grows, so does our vulnerability to space weather. According to a systemic risk scenario created by Lloyd's, the global economy could be exposed to losses of $2.4 trillion over a five-year period, with the expected loss of $17 billion from the threat of a hypothetical solar storm. Recent solar events 1 have already demonstrated the risk, disrupting GPS services, forcing flight diversions, and damaging satellites. The effects of solar storms can cause: Damage to satellites, spacecraft and/or astronauts that are stationed beyond Earth Loss of satellite hardware, damaging solar panels and circuits Impact to airline travel, due to navigational errors and potential risk of radiation for airline crew and passengers Lowered food production as agriculture can be impacted by disrupted GPS navigation The implications include both academic research and operational preparedness. The new model will provide tools to help experts plan for solar storms, which can disrupt the Earth's technological infrastructure. "Think of this as a weather forecast for space," said Juan Bernabe-Moreno, Director of IBM Research Europe, UK and Ireland. "Just as we work to prepare for hazardous weather events, we need to do the same for solar storms. Surya gives us unprecedented capability to anticipate what's coming and is not just a technological achievement, but a critical step toward protecting our technological civilization from the star that sustains us." Traditional solar weather prediction relies on partial satellite views of the Sun's surface, historically making accurate forecasting extremely difficult. Surya addresses this typical limitation by training on the largest curated high resolution heliophysics dataset. This dataset is designed to help researchers better study and evaluate critical space weather prediction tasks. Examples of these tasks, which Surya has been tested on, include predicting solar flares, the speed of solar winds, solar EUV spectra prediction and the emergence of active regions on the Sun. In early testing, researchers report achieving a 16 percent improvement in solar flare classification accuracy, which researchers report as a very substantial improvement compared to previous methods. In addition to the binary solar flare classification task, Surya is built to visually predict solar flares for the first time, providing a high resolution image of where the flare is predicted to occur up to two hours out. The technical challenges were immense. Surya was trained on nine years of high-resolution solar observation data from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. These solar images are 10 times larger than typical AI training data, requiring a custom multi-architecture solution to handle the massive scale while maintaining efficiency. The result is a model with unprecedented spatial resolution that can resolve solar features at scales and contexts not previously captured in large-scale AI training workflows. "We are advancing data-driven science by embedding NASA's deep scientific expertise into cutting-edge AI models," said Kevin Murphy, chief science data officer at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "By developing a foundation model trained on NASA's heliophysics data, we're making it easier to analyze the complexities of the Sun's behavior with unprecedented speed and precision. This model empowers broader understanding of how solar activity impacts critical systems and technologies that we all rely on here on Earth." Surya is part of a broader effort at IBM to embrace generative and automated approaches that empower algorithms to be discovered, tested, and evolved at scale. Surya is one example of how IBM is positioning AI not just as a tool, but as a driver of scientific discovery. By releasing Surya on Hugging Face, IBM and NASA are democratizing access to advanced tools for understanding and forecasting solar weather and scientific exploration. Researchers worldwide can now build upon this foundation to develop specialized applications for their regions and industries. This model is part of a larger collaboration between IBM and NASA to use AI technology to explore our planet and solar system. It joins the Prithvi family of foundation models, which includes a geospatial model and a weather model. Last year, IBM and NASA released the Prithvi weather model on Hugging Face for scientists and the broader community to develop short- and long-term weather and climate projections. About IBM IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting expertise. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Thousands of government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM's breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting delivers open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM's long-standing commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service. Media Contact Ashley Peterson IBM Research Communications [email protected] 1 Interplanetary Causes and Impacts of the 2024 May Superstorm on the Geosphere: An Overview – IOPscience. Interplanetary Causes and Impacts of the 2024 May Superstorm on the Geosphere: An Overview, Hajra, Rajkumar, Tsurutani, Bruce Tsatnam, Lakhina, Gurbax Singh, Lu, Quanming, Du, Aimin.
Cision Canada
12 hours ago
- Cision Canada
Carbon Journey: Blue and Green Pulse
BEIJING, Aug. 20, 2025 /CNW/ -- Witness China's low carbon revolution — where coral restoration revitalizes coastal ecosystems, and an abandoned coal mine has transformed into a clean energy hub. In the first episode of China Daily's Carbon Journey documentary series released on August 15, follow reporter Xia Ji on an extraordinary exploration of these stories of ecological renewal.
Cision Canada
15 hours ago
- Cision Canada
Vital Materials Released Quantum Flux Photon Counting CT (PCCT) Full Vertical Integration Technology
BEIJING, Aug. 19, 2025 /CNW/ -- From August 15-17, the 31 st China International Medical Equipment Exhibition and Scientific Conference (China-Hospeq 2025) was held in Beijing. Vital Materials officially launched the VITA Genesis, China's fully proprietary Photon Counting CT (PCCT) scanner, marking the entry of global medical imaging technology into the "Quantum Flux" sensing era and empowering Chinese innovation in precision diagnostics and treatment. The Photon Counting Detectors (PCD), as the core technology of PCCT, differ significantly from traditional Energy Integrating Detectors (EID). Traditional CT scanners require X-ray photons to first be converted into visible light, then into electrical signals. In contrast, the PCCT detector employs semiconductor materials, where X-ray photons excite electrons, creating electron-hole pairs proportional to photon energy. Charge carriers from the pairs are separated by an electric field to generate electrical pulses. Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASIC) categorize these pulses by energy bins, enabling precise photon counting and energy resolution. This breakthrough provides crucial technical support for multi-energy spectral imaging, significantly enhancing the diagnostic value of medical imaging. Currently, the PCCT detectors primarily utilize three materials: Cadmium Zinc Telluride (CdZnTe or CZT), Cadmium Telluride (CdTe), and Deep Silicon. CZT is emerging as a breakthrough for next-generation medical imaging technology due to its outstanding detection capabilities. The core value of VITA Genesis lies not only in adopting a detector solution based on the CZT, but more importantly in pioneering the mastery of PCCT's full vertical integration technology. This includes ultra-high purity metals purification and compounding, single crystal growth and processing, component design and development, CT system integration, and imaging algorithm development, establishing a global paradigm in the field of PCCT.
