2024 Seed Funding Awards
In 2024, the Brain Institute awarded over $900,000 in seed funding to nearly 50 investigators across Grounds through four mechanisms.
Transformative Neuroscience Pilot Grants
- A Novel Rewarding Food Consumption Circuitry Targeted by the Next Generation Weight-Loss Drugs (Ali Güler and John Campbell)
- Ambulatory Sleep Monitoring in Persons with Dementia and Caregiver Dyads (Carol Manning and Mark Quigg)
- APOE Genotypes Shaping Lipid and Protein Interactions during Tau Propagation in Pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (Lulu Jiang and Huan Bao)
- Brain microvascular pericyte pathology linking Alzheimer's Disease and Type II Diabetes (Shayn Peirce-Cottler and Ukpong Eyo)
- Computational Biomechanics Simulator of Neuro-Endovascular Surgery to Predict Device Performance (Ryan Kellogg and Matthew Panzer)
- Developing and Validating a Remotely Administered, Digital, Gait-Based Marker to Predict Future Cognitive Decline in Patients with Pediatric-Onset Multiple Sclerosis (Nick Brenton, Laurie Brenner, and Laura Barnes)
- Discovery of a Novel Role for Sarm1 in Early Protective Schwann Cells After Injury (Chris Deppmann and Sarah Kucenas)
- Glial-regulated mechanisms of aberrant axonal outgrowth in Alzheimer's Disease across species (Jaeda Coutinho-Budd and Elise Cope)
- Impact of Psilocybin on Prolonged Grief (Kim Penberthy, Patrick Finan, and Nassima Ait-Daoud Tiouririne)
- Inceptor, brain insulin resistance and postpartum depression (Heather Ferris and Jennifer Payne)
- Investigating anxiety-related variability in brain structure-function coupling during adolescence (Stefanie Sequeira and Aiying Zhang)
- Refining MR imaging and analysis methods in the prairie vole to uncover functional differences in the brain of high care fathers (Jessica Connelly, Per Sederberg, Alev Erisir, and Jamie Morris)
- Toward Non-Invasive Gene Therapy and Liquid Biopsy for Childhood Neurodevelopmental Disorders with Transcranial Focused Ultrasound (Sameer Bajikar and Natasha Sheybani)
- Uncovering the Molecular Mechanism of Early-Life Infection on Brain Development Using Model Organisms (Sarah Siegrist and Michelle Bland)
- Using Base Editing to Correct SCN8A variants and Prevent Seizures in SCN8A Epileptic Encephalopathy (Manoj Patel and Charles Farber)
Targeted Investment Grants
- Examining the Effect of Geographic Disparities in Social Determinants of Health on Time to Dementia Diagnosis and Subsequent Health Service Use (Sol Baik)
- Novel Pro-Drug Imaging Agents to Detect Neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's Disease (Chia-Yi (Alex) Kuan, James Mandell, and Patcharin Pramoonjago)
- Synchronous Network Activity in the Maturing Prefrontal Cortex: Mechanistic Impact of Birth Timing and Serotonin (Adema Ribic)
- Characterizing Neural Dynamics of Auditory Reconstruction Using Operator-Theoretic Methods (Heman Shakeri, Dan Meliza, Teague Henry, and Jack Van Horn)
Neurodevelopment Pitch & Catch Flash Funding
- Neural plasticity in neonatal stroke (Chia-Yi (Alex) Kuan, Jennifer Burnsed, and Lou Legouez)
- Baby Steps (Howard Goodkin and Adema Ribic)
- Elucidating glial-glial molecular regulatory factors across sex in development (Ukpong Eyo and John Campbell)
Community Engagement Pilot Grants
- Measuring the Psychophysiological Impact of Mindfulness on Emotion Regulation in Autistic Adults with Intellectual Disability (Rose Nevill and Insight Meditation Community of Charlottesville)
- Brain Wellness Program (Ishan Williams and Pilgrim Baptist Church)
- Enhancing Community Engaged Research using Community Advisory Boards (Carol Manning, Ishan Williams, Mel Cottrell, and Virginia Alzheimer’s Disease Center Community Advisory Board)
