The Center for Academic Research and Training in Anthropogeny (CARTA) has graciously awarded me another year of funding through their fellowship!

Thank you to Drs. Fred Gage (CARTA Co-Director), Margaret Schoeninger (CARTA Co-Director), Ajit Varki (CARTA Co-Director) and Pascal Gagneux (CARTA Associate Director) for their continued support. Also, thank you Salk Institute for Biological Studies for supporting CARTA and young researchers.

My first year of CARTA was spent working from home and attending virtual symposia. I learned a lot about human origins, but I did miss the camaraderie and richness of thought-exchange that is present in an in-person environment. Personally, in the coming year, I look forward to deepening my understanding of human migration and group dynamics (both may provide information about settings that could facilitate the development of certain recognition memory processes), as well as my understanding of how virology changes the genome in ways that may impact attention, stress, or memory.

I look forward to another year of research — this time back on campus!

Thank you again to the funders of this fellowship and to the selection committee for their continued faith and support.

-A.Y.