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Interstellar Initiative

Overview

Call for Applications

The Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED) and The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS) are inviting applications for the Interstellar Initiative. The Interstellar Initiative aims to increase international and interdisciplinary collaboration uniting scientists within the early stages of their careers and catalyzing scientific advancement. Early Career Investigators (ECIs) worldwide are invited to apply for a competitive application review process. Awardees will be invited to a three-day workshop in New York City where they will engage in in-depth discussions to identify research topics and develop research plans. Working in three-person international teams—formed by NYAS and AMED—participants will receive comprehensive support, including mentorship from distinguished researchers, specialized training, and funding (1.92 million Japanese Yen) to enhance collaboration. This support will help refine their research plans and strengthen their ability to secure future research funding.

The 2025-2026 Interstellar Initiative will address challenges in the area of basic research to elucidate the complex mechanisms of living organisms. Research topics may include biological functions or pathological conditions at all levels of analysis: for example, studies on genes and individual molecules, intracellular networks, intercellular associations in tissues and organs, and networks underlying the complex functions of entire organisms. Translational research topics are discouraged.

Apply Here

What is the Interstellar Initiative?

Collaboration is key to truly innovative scientific discoveries and advancement. The Interstellar Initiative connects Early Career Investigators (ECIs) with peers, in related but distinct disciplines, under the guidance of mentors who are established scientists at the forefront of their respective academic fields. This is a remarkable opportunity for ECIs to: (i) network with exceptional researchers from around the world; and (ii) build international research collaborations; (iii) receive expert guidance from leading senior scientists on the preparation of a compelling research proposal.

Why Apply for the Interstellar Initiative?

Scientists emerge from the Interstellar Initiative program with: a lifelong network of smart, ambitious peers from across the world, the recognition of being selected for this competitive program, experience working with others from a broad range of scientific disciplines, elevated communication and interpersonal skills gained through cross-cultural collaboration, knowledge of how to develop a stress-tested research proposal that is ready for submission, the gratification of working on a life-improving solution for a basic research challenge.

“International collaboration is critical in many fields. From infectious disease outbreaks to cancer treatment and drug development, we can accomplish much more when we reach out, shake hands, and collaborate.”

—Makoto Suematsu, MD, PhD, Former President of AMED and the Founder of Interstellar Initiative

Presented By

The New York Academy of Sciences logo
Key Dates
Eligibility and Proposal Guidelines
Details
Program Successes

Questions

Please email interstellar@nyas.org with any questions.

A New Approach to Studying Aging and Improving Health

An illustration depicting a woman aging, from a baby to an elderly woman.

Researchers explore the physiological mechanisms of aging with the ultimate goal of improving healthspan.

Published March 11, 2020

By Hallie Kapner
Academy Contributor

When mechanical engineer Carlotta Mummolo, neurobiologist Eleni Gourgou, and neuroscientist Teppei Matsui were teamed up in the Interstellar Initiative — an international mentorship program for early-career investigators — their first task was finding common ground.

Eleni Gourgou, PhD
University of Michigan

“We have such diverse backgrounds that I initially joked we were speaking different languages,” Mummolo said. “Overcoming that challenge was fun and exciting, and with the help of our mentors, we found a research direction that unites our expertise.”

Presented by the Academy and The Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development, the Interstellar Initiative recently concluded the second of two workshops for this year’s participants.

Organized around the theme of Healthy Longevity, the workshops challenged researchers to develop a plan for exploring the physiological mechanisms of aging, with the ultimate goal of using their findings to improve healthspan, or the time during which a person is healthy.

We spoke with the winning team about their forthcoming grant proposal, the importance of international collaboration, and their advice for young scientists.

Describe the area of research your team is pursuing.

Carlotta Mummolo, PhD
New Jersey Institute of Technology

Teppei Matsui, PhD, University of Tokyo: We chose to focus on age-dependent changes in the relationship between motor behavior and cognitive behavior.

Eleni Gourgou, PhD, University of Michigan: Carlotta is an engineer and roboticist whose work mostly focuses on humans, Teppei is an expert in brain imaging in rodents, and I study neurobiology using roundworms as a model system. These organisms are very different when it comes to the complexity of the nervous system, behavior, and how they experience aging. We looked at the questions we’re addressing in our own research, then tried to find a common thread that allows us to use three different organisms as three different approaches to address the same target. That thread turned out to be locomotion and cognition.

TM: By bringing this problem to the abstract level— motor behavior versus cognitive behavior as a function of age—we can study different animals within the same framework.

Carlotta Mummolo, PhD, New Jersey Institute of Technology: 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.

EG: The final research proposal is still taking shape. We will continue to work on it, then submit it to an international funding agency.

Mentorship by senior scientists is central to the Interstellar Initiative–how have your team’s mentors shaped this experience?

Teppei Matsui, PhD
University of Tokyo

CM: For early-career scientists, mentorship is everything, and that’s true even more so in this case. Our mentors—Frank Kirchhoff of the University of Saarland and Haruhiko Bito of the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine—pushed us to broaden our mindsets and step out of our comfort zone to find a unified approach. We’d also like to thank mentors Lawrence Hunter, Sofiya Milman, Mahendra Rao, Ikue Mori, and Meng Wan for helping shape our research idea.

TM: Mentorship is very important, and Interstellar Initiative mentors are prominent researchers who have experience with both obtaining competitive grants and reviewing grants. In the first meeting, we received valuable advice about to make our project more appealing and convincing to grant reviewers.

CM: One of our mentors told us something that I’ve kept in mind throughout this project—she told us to focus on integration, innovation, and impact. That was very helpful.

How can international collaborations help further scientific careers and scientific discovery?

TM: Biology is becoming a “big science” these days, and it is necessary to form a big team of experts to do cutting-edge science. For small countries like Japan, it can be difficult to find experts within the country.

EG: International collaboration isn’t new to most of us, but the way we collaborate in the context of the Interstellar Initiative is very different. Many of us have different professional backgrounds and training, and the concept of collaboration doesn’t have the same meaning for everyone. There are cultures of collaboration that you have to integrate in order to work together, and this is something I may not have experienced if it wasn’t for the Interstellar Initiative. It was a great, eye-opening experience for me.

CM: When you exchange ideas with people from different backgrounds, you never know what could come from the conversation. Sometimes that’s how very interesting scientific ideas come about.

What advice can you offer to young scientists?

CM: Step out of your comfort zone! Don’t be afraid, and don’t hold back when you have opportunities to do things outside of your field or your usual mindset.

EG: There’s always something to learn from people—from peers and mentors, of course, but also from people in earlier stages of their careers. Their perspective might shed light on a different aspect of our own work.

TM: I’d encourage young scientists to apply for the Interstellar Initiative.

Also read: Young Scientists Reach for the Stars

Promoting International Collaboration and Mentorship

Participants in The New York Academy of Sciences’ Interstellar Initiative discuss their work in the program, the power of effective mentors, and the need for cross-discipline collaboration.

Published February 28, 2019

By Academy Contributor

Mentors take part in the Academy tradition of posing next to the bronze bust of Charles Darwin.

A radiation oncologist, an immunologist, and a mechanical engineer walk into a room to consult with a brain tumor specialist. This may sound like the inauspicious start to a bad joke, but at the Interstellar Initiative—a mentoring workshop series presented by the Academy and The Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development—the payoff is a potential treatment for pancreatic cancer.

We recently sat down with a team of Interstellar participants to discuss how the Initiative’s emphasis on international collaboration and mentorship is helping to pave the way for innovative research. We caught up with them just as they were finalizing a grant proposal, developed over the course of two workshops with the guidance of their team mentor Noriyuki Kasahara, PhD.

What is your grant proposal’s focus?

Michael Pacold, MD, PhD, New York University: We’re studying pancreatic cancer—a nasty cancer with a five-year survival rate less than five percent. We’re interested in defining metabolic features of the pancreatic cancer environment that render these tumors insensitive to multiple therapies, including immune therapy. During preliminary experiments, we found that our initial proposal wouldn’t have worked.

From left to right Edmond Young, Taisuke Kondo, and Michael Pacold work on their grant presentation.

Taisuke Kondo, PhD, Keio University: The therapy we were proposing was potentially very dangerous because of adverse effects for normal lung tissues.

MP: With this knowledge, we’re now focused on what metabolites are in the microenvironment of pancreatic cancer.

Edmond Young, PhD, University of Toronto: This new approach makes for a more focused grant. We’re answering a basic question that could have major impact across the board in basic science. This 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.

Why should senior scientists mentor their younger colleagues?

Noriyuki Kasahara, MD, PhD, University of California, San Francisco: There’s an earnest desire to ensure young, promising junior faculty do not make the same mistakes that we made, and that they benefit from our experiences. Also an experienced scientist can explain how to think about grant proposals in the way that critical reviewers think about them.

Why is mentorship for early career investigators important?

EY: Because it’s easy to make mistakes (as an early career investigator). Mistakes happen often, and sometimes they take a long time to fix. Having a mentor helps to avoid traps. PhD students have been trained to do good bench science, and they know how to design an experiment, but writing a grant is a new game.

MP: In science and medicine, the successful generally function at a level above where they actually are. Good graduate students act like postdocs, good postdocs act like primary investigators. Good junior faculty act like senior faculty and so forth. Mentors help you get there, if only by imitation.

Why is international collaboration in the sciences important?

Noriyuki Kasahara consults with the team on their proposal.

EY: When you’re doing science at a university surrounded by familiar people, you get siloed. Scientists need to step outside of their local environment once in a while. Hearing other people’s thoughts, getting their input, and having a global eye towards problems is extremely helpful.

MP: The beauty of science is that it should be true and reproducible. You should be able to do the same experiment in New York as you can in Tokyo, as you can in Toronto.

NK: I think that’s one of the wonderful aspects of science. Also, it’s a universal kind of language. Physical laws are universal and it doesn’t matter what your nation of origin is, or your ethnicity. They apply equally to everybody.

TK: This program is a great opportunity for young investigators to participate in international collaborations.

What advice do you have for young researchers?

MP: 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.

EY: Question everything, because a skeptical scientist is always a good scientist.

TK: Enjoy both success and failure. Positive and negative data are both useful.

NY: Being in science can be very immersive, very consuming. You think about your hypotheses and your experiments all the time. But don’t always let it consume you. Live your life and see your family.

Devising New Therapies Across Borders

Award winners pose together with their trophies.

Published October 1, 2017

By Hallie Kapner
Academy Contributor

When Japanese physicist Kumiko Hayashi of Tohoku University and neuroscientist Ephraim Trakhtenberg of the University of Connecticut met at the New York Academy of Sciences this year, the synergies between their work weren’t immediately obvious. The two scientists were paired together as part of the Interstellar Initiative, a joint project of the Academy and the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), which grouped 50 early-career scientists from around the world for interdisciplinary research projects.

“The biggest global challenges, whether in health, the environment, or energy, require scientists with different expertise to work together,” said Academy President & CEO Ellis Rubinstein. “The Interstellar Initiative brings together brilliant young scientists who would likely never cross paths, and supports them as they develop solutions to major health issues.”

Devising New Therapies

Hayashi and Trakhtenberg are devising new therapies 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. Over 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.”

From left to right: President Suematsu, Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED), recognizes the collaborative work of Japanese physicist Kumiko Hayashi, Tohoku University and neuroscientist Ephraim Trakhtenberg, University of Connecticut, along with Ellis Rubinstein, President and CEO, New York Academy of Sciences at the recent Interstellar Initiative workshop presented by AMED and the Academy.

International Collaboration

This teamwork is precisely what AMED president Makoto Suematsu envisioned creating through the Interstellar Initiative, part of a broader strategy to bring international partnerships and new funding streams to Japan’s R & D pipeline. As technological advances that enable data sharing and ease remote collaboration have become ubiquitous, Suematsu believes it is crucial for Japanese researchers to join global research efforts.

“International collaboration is critical in many fields,” Suematsu said. “From infectious disease outbreaks to cancer treatment and drug development, we can accomplish much more when we reach out, shake hands and collaborate.”

Cancer Research

Another Interstellar Initiative team, comprised of NYU biologist Carlos Carmona-Fontaine, oncologist Valerie Chew of Singapore Health Services and physicist Shuichi Shimma of Osaka University, is juggling large time differences and global transport of perishable patient samples as they pursue their project. Blending Chew’s expertise in oncology with Carmona-Fontaine’s efforts to understand the role of metabolites in cancer cells and Shimma’s imaging techniques, the group is uncovering the interplay of metabolite activity and immune changes in tumor cells.

Noting that the Interstellar Initiative breaks down barriers that inhibit cross-disciplinary partnerships, Carmona-Fontaine commented that scientists “usually stick to our own communities, and there’s often a disconnect between scientists from different parts of the world — yet there are many advantages to learning different ways to look at a similar problem.” Chew was thrilled to be paired with teammates who brought both new expertise and new technologies. “If you’re working in your own zone, you’ll do what’s familiar,” she said. “But bringing together different disciplines and technologies creates a novel, creative environment for solving problems.”

Realizing Applications For Their Research

Proposals devised by Interstellar Initiative teams will be submitted to international funding agencies. For physician and biologist Deepak Lamba and biologist Akira Satoh, such funding may help them realize applications for their research. Lamba, who is developing methods for using stem cells to repair retinal tissue, is working with Satoh, whose research is illuminating the regenerative pathways of amphibians. They are probing the factors that influence regenerative capabilities in mammalian and amphibious cells, with the hope of developing methods of repairing and regenerating damaged tissue.

“[Stem cell research is] moving so quickly that I think we’ll start seeing applications in the not-so-distant future,” Lamba said. Satoh noted that stem cell research is less popular among Japanese scientists, while Lamba added that few labs in the US are using amphibians to study regenerative pathways. “We would never have done this on our own — it’s a unique challenge for us to do together.”

Rubinstein is quick to highlight that this is just the beginning for the Interstellar Initiative. “This is only our first cohort, and there’s so much exciting research in the works already,” he said.

Also read: A New Approach to Studying Aging and Improving Health