Congratulations to Max Bucklan, a Ph.D. student at DMPI in Duke’s University Program in Genetics and Genomics and a member of the laboratory of Simon Gregory, PhD, for winning the prestigious Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation Biomedical Research Video Competition. Bucklan’s award-winning stop-motion LEGO® animation, Breaking Down Brain Complexity, Brick by Brick, creatively explains the complex process of alternative RNA splicing and its role in pediatric brain tumor research, making advanced neuroscience more accessible to a broad audience.
Combining his background in biology and film, Bucklan developed the video to communicate research taking place in the Gregory laboratory, where scientists use cutting-edge single-cell long-read RNA sequencing to better understand diseases including pediatric brain tumors, Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple sclerosis. His innovative approach earned national recognition, including a $5,000 educational award, publication in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, and an invitation to the Lasker Foundation awards ceremony in New York City.
Learn more in the Duke School of Medicine story, Brick by Brick: Duke Ph.D. Student Makes Brain Research Easier to Grasp.
Read Meet the Winners of the 2026 Video Contest and Watch the Videos on the Lasker Foundation Website.
Read the publication in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.