Newswise — September 18, 2023 (Rolling Meadows, Ill.) – The Neurosurgery Research & Education Foundation (NREF) is pleased to announce this year’s recipients of the foundation’s 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, sections and affiliated organizations who make these awards possible,” stated Gregory J. Zipfel, MD, FAANS, NREF Research Committee chair.

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.

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 2023-24 Research Fellowship Grant and Young Clinician Investigator Award recipients are:

 

haruta G. Furey, MD, Barrow Neurological Institute

Award: 2023-24 NREF & SBTF Research Fellowship Grant on behalf of the AANS/CNS Section on Tumors

Project Title: Characterizing glioma evolution through longitudinal cerebrospinal fluid liquid biopsy in a Phase 0/2 clinical trial of niraparib for newly-diagnosed glioblastoma

Sponsor: Nader Sanai, MD, FAANS

 

Vivek Sean Gupta, MD, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine

Award: 2023-24 NREF & AANS/CNS Section on Pediatric Neurological Surgery Research Fellowship Grant

Project Title: Microstructural Injury to the Brainstem and Spinal Cord Determines Outcomes in Chiari Malformation and Syringomyelia

Sponsor: David Limbrick, MD, PhD, FAANS

 

Natasha T. L. Ironside, MD, University of Virginia

Award: 2023-24 Academy of Neurological Surgeons Research Fellowship Grant

Project Title: Predicting Hematoma Expansion in Spontaneous Intracerebral Hemorrhage

Sponsors: Gustavo Kunde Rohde, PhD and Min Park, MD, FAANS            

 

Elena Kurudza, MD, University of Utah

Award: 2023-24 NREF & Andrew T. Parsa Research Fellowship Grant

Project Title: Utilizing Chimeric Antigen Receptor Macrophages (CAR-M) to promote tumor phagocytosis and repolarization of the tumor microenvironment in Glioblastoma

Sponsor: Minna Roh-Johnson, PhD                                                                       

 

Ryan M. Naylor, MD, Mayo Clinic

Award: 2023-24 NREF & Academy of Neurological Surgeons Research Fellowship Grant

Project Title: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Implications of KRAS Mutations in Brain Arteriovenous Malformations

Sponsor: David J. Daniels, MD, PhD, FAANS                                                     

 

Peyton Lubbock Nisson, MD, Barrow Neurological Institute

Award: 2023-24 NREF & Bagan Family Foundation Research Fellowship Grant

Project Title: Vascular-Endothelial-Growth-Factor A and Angiogenesis Role in the Growth and Rupture of Intracranial Aneurysms. The Missing Link in a Complex Pathophysiologic Process in Females

Sponsor: Tomoki Hashimoto        

 

Jonathon J. Parker MD, PhD, Mayo Clinic Arizona

Award: 2023-24 NREF & Academy of Neurological Surgeons Young Clinician Investigator Award

Project Title: Short Fiber Stimulation to Suppress Epileptiform Activity in Human Neocortical Epilepsy

Sponsor: Greg Worrell, MD, PhD

 

Kunal Patel, MD, UCLA

Award: 2023-24 NREF & Gladiator Project Young Clinician Investigator Award on behalf of the AANS/CNS Section on Tumors

Project Title: Visualization, quantitation, and targeting of infiltrating glioblastoma cells with pH sensitive amine chemical exchange saturation transfer magnetic resonance imaging

Sponsor: Harley Kornblum, MD, PhD

 

Jeffrey I. Traylor, MD, UT Southwestern Medical Center

Award: 2023-24 NREF & AANS/CNS Section on Tumors Research Fellowship Grant

Project Title: Investigating acquired resistance to DHODH inhibition in IDH mutant glioma

Sponsor: Samuel McBrayer, PhD

 

The application for the 2024-25 NREF Research Fellowship Grants and Young Clinician Investigator Awards is now open through the NREF Online Grant Portal. For more information about the NREF Research Fellowship Grants and Young Clinician Investigator Awards or other grant and fellowship programs, please contact 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 NREF, please visit www.nref.org.