Giordano Lippi, PhD, and Li Ye, PhD, both assistant professors in the Department of Neurology, have received grants from the Whitehall Foundation to support their studies into brain function. Each researcher will receive $225,000 over three years. In the Lippi lab, the new funding will support research into microRNAs, the regulatory molecules that control brain development, particularly miR-218, which has been linked to epilepsy and cognitive impairment. The separate award to the Ye lab will support research to identify the brain circuits that drive organisms to eat more food when they are in a cold environment. The Whitehall Foundation, founded in 1937, focuses exclusively on funding neurobiology research in the U.S.