Funded Research Projects
NeuroHealth | Neuroscience:Translate
Lead Researcher(s): Jon-Paul Pepper, MD, Philip Beachy
This team has identified a small-molecule drug pathway that can improve functional recovery from nerve injury. The team will use the Neuroscience:Translate funds to test several approaches to topically apply this compound directly to damaged nerves during surgery to safely improve patient outcomes.
NeuroHealth | Seed Grant
Lead Researcher(s): Carla Shatz, Anca M. Pasca, MD
Maternal infection is linked to increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism and schizophrenia. This proposal examines how virus-associated cytokines, specifically interferons, affect human neurons modeled in brain organoids or studied directly in fetal brain samples.
NeuroHealth | Seed Grant
Lead Researcher(s): Xinnan Wang, Michael Bassik
We will comprehensively define the gene network associated with mitochondrial dysfunction in Parkinson's disease using a cutting-edge technology, CRISPR, to understand how these nerve cells die in PD and how we can reverse the cell death to treat the disease.
NeuroHealth | SIGF - Graduate Fellowship
Lead Researcher(s): Erin Kunz
Many neurological injuries and diseases such as brainstem stroke and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) result in severe speech impairment, drastically reducing quality of life. Recent progress in brain-computer interfaces (BCI) has allowed these individuals to communicate, but performance is...
NeuroHealth | Big Idea
Lead Researcher(s): Sergiu P. Pasca, Karl Deisseroth
Developing brain organoids and assembloids – three dimensional brain tissues grown in the lab – to study human brain development, evolution and neuropsychiatric disorders.
NeuroHealth | Neuroscience:Translate
There are currently no available drugs for neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease. Using the power of a new vertebrate aging model, the African killifish, this team is investigating age-dependent protein aggregation at a systems level and identifying aggregating proteins in the...
NeuroHealth | Neuroscience:Translate
Lead Researcher(s): Helen Bronte-Stewart, MD, MS, Allison Okamura
This team is developing a device that will enable accurate diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease via telemedicine. They initially introduced the technology of Quantitative DigitoGraphy (QDG) using a repetitive alternating finger tapping (RAFT) task on a musical instrument digital interface (MIDI)...
NeuroHealth | Postdoctoral Fellowship
Lead Researcher(s): Mable Lam
Myelin is the protective covering that surrounds nerve fibers to accelerate communication between different parts of the nervous system. Damage to myelin occurs in diseases such as multiple sclerosis, which compromises nerve signaling and impairs motor and cognitive function. Myelin forms from a...
NeuroHealth | Postdoctoral Fellowship
Lead Researcher(s): Caitlyn Seim
Vibrotactile stimulation provides powerful somatosensory and proprioceptive input to the nervous system. There is growing evidence that this stimulation may significantly improve limb function after brain injury. However, current technology restricts further research to short, laboratory studies...
NeuroHealth | SIGF - Graduate Fellowship
Lead Researcher(s): Kathryn Wu
Schwann cells (SCs) sort and myelinate peripheral axons, and impairments in either process can cause long-term disability. There are no therapeutic strategies for targeting SC dysfunction, underscoring the need to investigate mechanisms of sorting and myelination. Both processes require highly...
