The Department of Neurobiology congratulates Gabrielle “Gabby” Gillow on winning the Constance Campbell Prize for Basic Research. Each year, the Program in Biological Sciences (PBS) extends three to six prizes to students judged to have done fine research and to have written particularly excellent senior theses. One or two of these awards are Constance Campbell prizes, generally given to students whose research is physiologically oriented. Dr. Constance Campbell was a distinguished Assistant Professor of Biological Sciences at Northwestern University in the 1980s. She and Neurobiology professors Neena Schwartz and Fred Turek published a number of papers on light and dark influence on behavior. She had just received tenure at Northwestern when she was diagnosed with cancer and died soon thereafter. The Constance Campbell Prize for Basic Research was initially funded via contributions made by her colleagues after her death. This year, the award was granted to Gabby, a Biological Sciences major whose research was completed in Professor Ravi Allada’s lab. Gabby’s research culminated into her final project and thesis titled Identifying Insomniac Relevant Neural Sleep Circuitry. Professor Allada says of Gabby, “Upon joining the lab, Gabby immediately distinguished herself in the level of independence and responsibility she took for her experiments. Gabby was not just a ‘data machine’ but also demonstrated a passion and aptitude for science.” Gabby graduated from Northwestern with the Class of 2017. She plans to take a gap year where she will be teaching and volunteering in New York, as well as applying to attend medical school in the fall of 2018. The Department of Neurobiology congratulates Gabby for winning this prestigious award!
