David Chen, a faculty member in the Biology Department at Temple University, has been awarded a $100,000 Blue Sky Initiative grant from the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) to support the development of innovative tools for studying how the brain is built.

The one-year award will fund a project focused on creating an RNA-based split-GAL4 system designed to precisely target specific cell types as they form during development.

Understanding how the brain assembles requires the ability to both identify and experimentally access individual cell types. While advances in gene expression profiling have made it possible to catalog diverse brain cells, linking those molecular identities to function during development remains a major challenge.

Chen’s lab is addressing this gap by adapting a recently developed RNA-sensing technology known as CellREADR for use in the model organism Drosophila. This approach enables researchers to detect which genes are active within a cell and use that information to activate genetic tools selectively, ensuring that experiments target the right cells at the right time.

By bringing this technology into a powerful genetic system, the project aims to establish a flexible and scalable framework for linking gene expression to cellular function during brain development.

“This work builds on recent innovations in RNA sensing while expanding what we can do in established model systems,” Chen said. “Ultimately, it will allow us to better understand how neural circuits are assembled and how developmental disruptions may lead to neurological disorders.”

The Blue Sky Initiative supports high-risk, high-reward research with the potential to open new scientific directions. Chen’s project exemplifies this goal by integrating cutting-edge molecular tools with classical developmental genetics.