Announcement

Year in Review: 2023 Brain Institute Seed Funding

Dr. Shannon Reilly presents a 'pitch' at VADC meeting.

In 2023, the Brain Institute awarded over $850,000 in seed funding to investigators from across Grounds through 4 funding mechanisms. 

We are immensely grateful to everyone who participated in our programs including those who attended focus groups and meetings, those who submitted applications, and those who participated in the review process. Over 50 faculty members provided written reviews over the last year and we could not have administered our programs successfully without their support. Thank you!

The 4 funding mechanisms in 2023 included the Transformative Neuroscience Pilot Grants in Basic Science, the Transformative Neuroscience Pilot Grants in Human Neuroscience, Pitch & Catch Awards, and the Targeted Investments Grants. Faculty from across the University were eligible to apply to all programs; additional details about each mechanism can be found below. We plan to administer all 4 programs again in 2024. Requests for proposals will be issued through our mailing list and posted on our website. 

Congratulations to the 2023 award recipients! 

Transformative Neuroscience Pilot Grants in Basic Science 

The purpose of this program is to support novel projects that tackle important questions and perform groundbreaking work that will differentiate our research enterprise. Projects are bench research on any subject related to neuroscience with high potential for scientific impact and plans for pursuing subsequent extramural funding.  

  • Anna Cliffe, PhD - Department of Microbiology, Immunology, & Cancer
    • Neuronal Memory of Type II Interferon Responses Revealed by Herpes Simplex Virus Infection
  • Ali Güler, PhD & Christopher Deppmann, PhD - Department of Biology
    • Adaptation to energy excess and deficit through AgRP neurotrophin signaling
  • Edward Perez-Reyes, PhD - Department of Pharmacology
    • Novel Cre-dependent AAVs with zero off-target expression to study neural circuits
  • Ammasi Periasamy, PhD, Andrés Norambuena, PhD, & Shagufta Alam, PhD - Departments of Biology and Biomedical Engineering, W.M. Keck Center for Cellular Imaging
    • Novel Cre-dependent AAVs with zero off-target expression to study neural circuits
  • Jose Javier Provencio, MD - Department of Neurology
    • Novel Cre-dependent AAVs with zero off-target expression to study neural circuits
  • Adema Ribic, PhD - Department of Psychology
    • Novel Cre-dependent AAVs with zero off-target expression to study neural circuits
  • Sarah Siegrist, PhD - Department of Biology
    • FOXO in regulation of neural stem cell transitions: quiescence to proliferation

Transformative Neuroscience Pilot Grants in Human Neuroscience 

The purpose of this program is to support transformative neuroscience research involving humans, including investigation of normal or abnormal brain function and clinical or translational research. The awarded projects will differentiate our research enterprise through a high potential for scientific impact and plans for pursuing subsequent extramural funding.  

  • W. Alex Dalrymple, MD, T. Jason Druzgal, MD, PhD, Jim Patrie, MS, & Diane Huss, PT - Departments of Neurology, Radiology & Medical Imaging, and Public Health Sciences
    • Investigating the Cholinergic Contribution to Gait in Parkinson's Disease
  • Michaela DuBay, PhD, Mandy Rispoli, PhD, Micah Mazurek, PhD, & Larry Merkel, PhD - Departments of Human Services, Curriculum, Instruction & Special Education, and Psychiatric Medicine
    • Parent-Mediated Autism Intervention in Bolivia: Feasibility of Parent-to-Parent Treatment Model in Low-Resourced Settings
  • Virginia Gallagher, PhD, Carol Manning, PhD, Shannon Reilly, PhD, & Ishan Williams, PhD - Departments of Neurology, and Family, Community & Mental Health Systems
    • The Role of Environmental Social Determinants of Health in Care Partners of Persons with Cognitive Decline
  • C. Jeff Liu, PhD, P. Tom Fletcher, PhD, Patrick Finan, PhD, Mark Quigg, MD, Shayan Moosa, MD, & W. Jeff Elias, MD - Departments of Neurosurgery, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Anesthesiology, and Neurology
    • Interdisciplinary Team Science to Uncover the Mechanisms of Pain Relief by Spinal Cord Stimulation
  • Nicole Long, PhD - Department of Psychology
    • Executive Control Deficits and Memory Brain State Engagement in Healthy Aging
  • Jennifer Payne, MD - Department of Psychiatry & Neurobehavioral Services
    • Epigenome-Wide Association Study of Newborns with InUtero Exposure to Antenatal Depression and/or Antidepressants
  • Santina Zanelli, MD, Lisa Letzkus, PhD, RN, CPNP-AC, Stephen Baek, PhD, Rupa Valdez, PhD - Departments of Pediatrics, Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, Data Science, Systems & Information Engineering and Public Health Sciences
    • Machine Learning to analyze infant movement and predict cerebral palsy risk

Pitch & Catch Awards

Pitch & Catch is a flash-funding mechanism with chalk-talk style pitches for small research projects that align with the GCRI-BN thematic priority areas. In 2023, the Pitch & Catch awards were focused on projects that align with the Virginia Alzheimer's Disease Center research themes. 

  • Ukpong Eyo, PhD - Department of Neuroscience
    • Investigation on the dysregulation of RNA metabolism in Alzheimer's disease through novel 3D brain assembloids
  • Lulu Jiang, PhD - Department of Neuroscience
    • Investigation on the dysregulation of RNA metabolism in Alzheimer's disease through novel 3D brain assembloids
  • Anne Kenworthy, PhD - Department of Microbiology, Immunology, & Cancer
    • Does stress contribute to Alzheimer's Disease by damaging membrane rafts?
  • Shannon Reilly, PhD - Department of Neurology
    • Investigation on the dysregulation of RNA metabolism in Alzheimer's disease through novel 3D brain assembloids

Targeted Investment Grants

The Brain Institute's Targeted Investment grants are for neuroscience-related research projects that have been submitted to external funding organizations within the last 12-months and have been scored but not funded. The purpose of the program is to strengthen groundbreaking proposals by providing support to address reviewer criticisms and improve the likelihood of success during resubmission. Projects may be on any subject related to neuroscience from basic science to clinical-translational research. 

  • Barry Condron, PhD - Department of Biology
    • Entry of a circulating macrophage into the healthy brain
  • Christopher Deppmann, PhD - Department of Biology
    • Long distance regressive signaling underlies sculpting of the nervous system during development
  • Zachary Irving, PhD, & Sheisha Kulkarni, PhD - Departments of Philosophy, Commerce
    • The Psychological and Financial Relief of Insolvency

 

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