ABSTRACT We request supplemental funding (under PA-20-222) to support a talented post-baccalaureate student, Ms. Elisa Rojas Palato. Ms. Palato is a United States citizen whose heritage, Mexican Hispanic, is underrepresented in the biomedical sciences. She recently graduated from the University of California Los Angeles and joined the Neuroscience track of Harvard’s Research Scholars Initiative (the “PiNBAC” program). The parent grant (R21 EY032731) concerns the encoding and processing of visual information for circadian regulation in mice. Ms. Palato will conduct quantitative, in vitro experiments that speak directly to the aims of this parent grant. She will focus on neurons of the master circadian clock (the suprachiasmatic nucleus; SCN) that express the neuropeptide VIP. These neurons play a key role: They receive visual information from the retina and entrain circadian rhythms within the SCN. How VIP neurons play this role is poorly understood. Ms. Palato will address this gap in knowledge through two aims. In Aim 1, Ms. Palato will define the responses of VIP neurons to retinal input using patch-clamp electrophysiology and Ca2+ imaging. The data provided by these approaches is complementary. The former concerns the acute encoding of retinal information and the latter concerns the signal that engages the molecular clock within VIP neurons. Ms. Palato’s hypothesis is that electrical and Ca2+ signals are tightly coupled. In Aim 2, Ms. Palato will test the hypothesis that cell-intrinsic and synaptic properties are configured in VIP neurons for robust responses to retinal input. Her experiments will combine patch-clamp electrophysiology with a suite of biophysical analyses. Collectively, the proposed experiments will yield fundamental knowledge of circadian photoregulation and provide Ms. Palato with a rigorous foundation in scientific research. The laboratory and PiNBAC community will also provide Ms. Palato with training in career skills and assistance in applying to Ph.D. programs, accelerating her toward her goal of becoming an independent investigator and teacher who is deeply committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion.