UC researcher named a 2022 Sloan Fellowship recipient 

University of Cincinnati chemistry researcher Ashley Ross has received a 2022 Sloan Fellowship to continue and expand her study of how the brain communicates to the immune system through neurotransmitters, particularly during inflammatory disease.

Among the most competitive awards in the U.S. and Canada, Sloan Fellowships are awarded annually to recognize creativity, innovation and research accomplishments. Ross is only the fifth UC faculty member to receive the recognition in nearly 70 years. 

Former recipients of the fellowship have included mathematician John Nash—one of the fathers of modern game theory and winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics—and for five of the past six years, winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics have included former Sloan fellows.

“Today’s Sloan Research Fellows represent the scientific leaders of tomorrow,” says Adam F. Falk, president of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, in a release announcing the winners. “As formidable young scholars, they are already shaping the research agenda in their respective fields—and their trailblazing won’t end here.”

Ross’s lab focuses on developing technologies to measure specific biomolecules, particularly neurotransmitters, which are chemical messengers that are used from the nervous system to communicate to nearby cells not only in the brain, but all throughout the body. 

Specifically, her lab aims to use these tools to study fundamentally how the brain communicates to the immune system and how this communication changes during inflammatory disease.

Ross says she was both shocked and excited to learn she had been selected for the fellowship. “I know how competitive the selection is for this award,” she says, “so it took a moment to really process it.”

She believes the fellowship will significantly impact her research. “Because the fellowship focuses on stimulating fundamental research, the funds for this award enable us to advance knowledge of not only chemical sensing, but of fundamental biological mechanisms,” Ross says. “I think this could greatly improve our ability to extend future collaborations with those in the medical community.”

The real-world implications of Ross’ work will fundamentally advance knowledge of the mechanism and dynamics of how the brain and immune system communicate. This has implications for understanding basic health and inflammatory disease progression in conditions such as Chron’s disease, endometriosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Through this research, Ross hopes to answer basic biological questions with the tools developed in her lab. 

Since 1955, Sloan Fellowships have been awarded to researchers changing the future of seven scientific and technical fields. Sloan Fellowship recipients are nominated by fellow scientists and of more than 1,000 applications, of whom 118 are selected. Winners are awarded a two-year, $75,000 fellowship to advance their research. 

Featured image at top: UC assistant professor of chemistry and Sloan Fellowship recipient Ashley Ross in her lab. Photo/Ravenna Rutledge/UC Creative + Brand