Dr. Jacob Shreckengost is a Program Officer for the Spinal Cord Injury Research on the Translational Spectrum (SCIRTS) portfolio. He assists in management of this portfolio throughout all stages of the application and review process.
As a child, Jacob witnessed a car accident that left his younger brother Jesse, then 5, tetraplegic due to a spinal cord injury between the first two cervical vertebrae. This inspired Jacob to focus on neuroscience throughout his academic career with a particular interest in the functioning of spinal cellular networks before and after injury.
Jacob received his undergraduate degree in Biology from the University of Chicago and then attended Emory University to pursue a PhD in Neuroscience, where his work focused on understanding sensory gating in mammalian spinal circuits. His post-doctoral research was split between Emory University and Spelman college, where he focused both on laboratory science and science teaching. Through his doctoral and post-doctoral research, Jacob developed expertise in cellular communication in the spinal cord. He has held faculty and administrative positions at Emory University, Syracuse University, Spelman College, and Georgia State University, where he was heavily involved in teaching, curriculum design, and program management. For the last 4 years, he also been involved in the Emory Tibet Science teaching biology and neuroscience to Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns in Southern India.
When not in front of his computer, Jacob can be found enjoying time with his three dogs, Virgil, Joule, and Mimi, brewing beer, playing rugby, or rehearsing with his vocal band, Best to Burn.