NREF Announces Recipients of 2021-22 Research Fellowship Grants and Young Clinician Investigator Awards

The Neurosurgery Research & Education Foundation (NREF) is pleased to announce this year’s recipients of the NREF Research Fellowship Grants and Young Clinician Investigator Awards.

“Year after year, the NREF receives applications from some of the most promising researchers in the country. The decisions were extraordinarily difficult this year. The exceptional quality of the proposals submitted by the awardees makes us optimistic for the future of neurosurgery. We are grateful for the generosity of the donors, industry partners, sections and affiliated organizations who make these awards possible,” says NREF Research Committee Chair Gregory J. Zipfel, MD, FAANS.

As the premier funder of neurosurgical studies, the NREF provides funding for studies in basic, translational and patient-oriented clinical research for investigators in North America through two annual neurosurgical research grant programs. 

Open to residents only, the NREF Research Fellowship Grant provides training for neurosurgeons who are preparing for academic careers as clinician investigators. Applicants must be physicians who have been accepted into, or who are currently in approved residency training programs in neurological surgery in North America.

The NREF Young Clinician Investigator Award supports junior faculty who are pursuing careers as clinical investigators. Applicants must be neurosurgeons, no more than two years from the end of their clinical training, who are full-time faculty in North American teaching institutions.

The 2021-22 Research Fellowship Grant and Young Clinician Investigator Award recipients are:

Oluwaseun O. Akinduro, MD, Mayo Clinic

Award:                2021-22 NREF & AANS/CNS Section on Tumors Research Fellowship Grant

Sponsor:             Alfredo Quinones-Hinojosa, MD, FAANS

Project Title:      Targeting Chordoma Therapy Resistance Through the YAP Pathway

 

Daniel Eichberg, MD, University of Miami

Award:                2021-22 NREF & StacheStrong Research Fellowship Grant on behalf of the AANS/CNS Section on Tumors

Sponsor:             Michael Ivan, MD, FAANS and Nagi Ayad, PhD

Project Title:      Investigating the Role of CD97/ADGRE5 Receptor in Glioblastoma Invasion and its Mechanism of Action in the Brain

 

Matthew Garrett, MD, PhD, University of Cincinnati

Award:               2021-22 B*CURED & NREF Young Clinician Investigator Award

Sponsor:            Richard Lu

Project Title:     Targeting the malignant epigenome of IDH1 mutant gliomas

 

Katherine G. Holste, MD, University of Michigan

Award:                 2021-22 NREF & AANS/CNS Section on Pediatric Neurological Surgery Research Fellowship Grant

Sponsor:              Guohua Xi, MD, PhD

Project Title:      The role of complement in pediatric intraventricular hemorrhage and development of posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus

 

Benjamin R. Johnston MD, PhD, Brigham & Women’s Hospital

Award:               2021-22 NREF & Medtronic Research Fellowship Grant

Sponsor:            Justin Brown, MD, FAANS

Project Title:     Optogenetic Motor Neuron Transplantation to Restore Bladder Contraction

 

Michael B. Keough, MD, PhD, Stanford University

Award:                 2021-22 NREF & Andrew T. Parsa Research Fellowship Grant

Sponsor:              Michelle Monje, MD, PhD

Project Title:      Targeting neuron-glioma circuit dynamics as a novel treatment for high-grade glioma

 

Alexander Ksendzovsky, MD, PhD, University of Maryland

Award:                 2021-22 NREF & Academy of Neurological Surgeons Young Clinician Investigator Award

Sponsor:              Peter Crino, MD, PhD

Project Title:      LDHA enzyme may form the link between metabolism and epilepsy

 

Nealen Gordon Laxpati, MD, PhD, Emory University

Award:                 2021-22 NREF & Bagan Family Foundation Research Fellowship Grant

Sponsor:              Robert E. Gross, MD, PhD, FAANS

Project Title:      Optogenetic Neuromodulation of the Septohippocampal Axis for the Treatment of Epilepsy

 

Mark Alexander MacLean, MD, MSc, Dalhousie University

Award:                 2021-22 NREF & Academy of Neurological Surgeons Research Fellowship Grant

Sponsor:              Alon Friedman, MD, PhD

Project Title:      Exploring Mechanisms Underlying Mild Traumatic Brain Injury-Related Microvasculopathy

 

Geoffrey W. Peitz, MD, University of Texas-San Antonio

Award:                 2021-22 NREF & Academy of Neurological Surgeons Research Fellowship Grant

Sponsor:              Naomi Sayre

Project Title:      Closed-loop sodium administration system for treatment of cerebral edema and intracranial hypertension: System development and proof-of-concept evaluation in a rat model

 

Anja I. Srienc, MD, PhD, Washington University

Award:                 2021-22 NREF & L. Nelson “Nick” Hopkins Research Fellowship Grant jointly sponsored by Arvind Ahuja, MD, FAANS, and the AANS/CNS Cerebrovascular Section

Sponsor:              Joseph P. Culver, PhD

Project Title:      Characterizing Changes in Functional Connectivity After Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Using Bedside Diffuse Optical Tomography

 

Justin Zihan Wang, MD, BSc, University of Toronto

Award:                 2021-22 NREF & Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation (SBTF) Research Fellowship Grant on behalf of the AANS/CNS Section on Tumors

Sponsor:              Gelareh Zadeh, MD, PhD, FAANS

Project Title:      Establishing the utility of plasma-based liquid biopsies in meningiomas using cell-free methylated DNA immunoprecipitation with deep sequencing

 

Jacob Stewart Young, MD, University of California, San Francisco

Award:                 2021-22 NREF & StacheStrong Research Fellowship Grant on behalf of the AANS/CNS Section on Tumors

Sponsor:              Manish K. Aghi, MD, PhD, FAANS

Project Title:      In Vivo Gene Screening and Transcriptome Editing with Retroviral-Delivered CRISPR-Cas for the Treatment of Glioblastoma

               

For more information about the NREF Research Fellowship Grants and Young Clinician Investigator Awards or other grant and fellowship programs, please contact the NREF at 847.378.0500 or [email protected].

 

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About the NREF The Neurosurgery Research & Education Foundation (NREF) is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization created in 1980 by the American Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) to support research and education efforts that enhance and confirm the critical role neurosurgeons play in improving lives.

The NREF is dedicated to providing education to neurosurgeons at all stages of their careers, as well as funding research into new and existing neurosurgical treatments, in order to identify links between best practices and improved outcomes in patient care. Through voluntary public donations, corporate support and donations from allied groups, the NREF supports endeavors that impact the lives of those suffering from epilepsy, stroke, brain tumors, spinal disorders, sports-related head injuries, lower back pain and Parkinson’s disease.

For more information about the NREF, visit www.nref.org.