Dr. Kathryn Maxson Jones selected as CLA Dean’s Faculty Research Fellow
The CLA Dean’s Faculty Research Fellows program is designed to invest in exceptional faculty researchers who can advance faculty scholarship, align with university-wide aspirations to be a Top 5 public research university, and enhance metrics related to membership in the Association for American Universities.
“I plan to use my fellowship to bring to fruition two books and catapult research on forthcoming projects,” explains Dr. Maxson Jones. “The first book, Sea Change: The Squid Giant Axon and the Transformation of Neurobiology in the 20th Century, explores the intertwined histories of aquatic organisms, seaside laboratories, and biophysical and biochemical studies of nerves. This history provides indispensable context for the rise of modern neuroscience.” Her second book examines shifting assumptions regarding the medical value of experiments with non-human, regenerating nerves, looking at the 19th through the 21st centuries. Taken together, these books provide fresh perspectives on how biology can impact medicine.
CLA Dean’s Faculty Research Fellows are selected based on their proven record of research and proposals that demonstrate commitment to and likelihood of growth in scholarship excellence and discipline impact. Up to three faculty members are selected each year for the highly competitive program. The Fellowship culminates with a report to the Dean describing current or pending accomplishments resulting from the program.
As a Fellow, Dr. Maxson Jones will work at home in Lafayette, with collaborators in the U.S.at various institutions, and abroad. Her book on regeneration is a collaboration with a biologist at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA, where she will visit to complete research and writing. “I also will use the fellowship to help complete several ongoing, collaborative articles stemming from previous work at the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston,” she notes. “This research focuses on identifying and examining challenges and concerns specific to sharing data from studies of human brains, and on generating empirically informed policy and practice options for addressing these concerns.”
Additionally, Dr. Maxson Jones will examine archival sources related to her next two books, one centered on the history of the Human Genome Project and the other exploring the history of artificial intelligence, held in collections in the U.S. and U.K.
Outside of Purdue, Dr. Maxson Jones’ research has been supported by The Royal Society (U.K.), the James S. McDonnell Foundation, the U.S. National Human Genome Research Institute, the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, and the High Meadows Environmental Institute.
A two-part blog reporting results of her recent research for Sea Change is available from The Royal Society:
Part 1: https://royalsociety.org/blog/2025/02/squid-game-1/
Part 2: https://royalsociety.org/blog/2025/02/squid-game-2/
Learn more about Dr. Kathryn Maxson Jones: https://cla.purdue.edu/directory/profiles/kathryn-maxson-jones.html
Learn more about the CLA Dean’s Faculty Research Fellows program: https://www.cla.purdue.edu/research/awards/deans-fellowship.html