University of Richmond Biology Professor John Peters Receives $500K NSF Award to Support Research on Learning and Memory

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND — John Peters, a biology professor at the University of Richmond, has received a $502,981 National Science Foundation award to support his neuroscience research on the mechanisms of learning and memory.

The primary goal of this project is to better understand the molecules involved in memory formation. Peters and his research team are studying how the connections between neurons, known as synapses, are strengthened by the delivery of proteins called AMPA receptors.

“We are interested in how AMPA receptors are delivered to the surface of neurons during long-term potentiation, a process that strengthens synapses and is important for storing memories,” Peters said. “Though we know that AMPA receptors are delivered to the cell surface during memory formation, the mechanisms that regulate this important step are still unclear.”

This NSF award will provide opportunities for UR students studying biology to work alongside Peters in his lab and will also help support the development of a new, upper-level molecular biology lab course.

“Undergraduate researchers in my lab will gain important molecular biology skills and will also have several professional development opportunities essential to early career scientists, including traveling to national conferences to present their research and collecting data at national laboratories,” Peters said.

Peters joined the Richmond biology faculty this past fall after receiving a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Stanford University in 2021 and serving as a Harvard Medical School Curriculum Fellow until 2024.

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