2009 Research and Medical Student Fellows: Support of Neurosurgical Research Remains a Priority
While fluctuations in the economy can result in unexpected and disappointing declines in funding for medical research, the Neurosurgery Research and Education Foundation remains firm in its resolve to provide a private, nongovernmental source of funding for research training in the neurosciences. In spite of the current poor economic climate, 25 researchers and medical students are receiving funding through the NREF in 2009 to study at the following institutions.
2009 NREF Research Fellows
The generous support by individuals, groups, practices and corporate partners enables the NREF to fulfill its commitment to support young scientists and their work, reducing reliance on capricious funding through government agencies.
The NREF has continued to receive high-quality applications, but many deserving research proposals remain unfunded. The continued support of the neurosurgical community is needed to provide talented young investigators the financial resources that they need.
This year, the NREF’s Scientific Advisory Committee reviewed 42 applications and bestowed research grant and clinician award funding to 10 applicants. The NREF extends its congratulations to the 2009 awardees and looks forward to reviewing the results of these exciting projects.
ACS/AANS-NREF Faculty Career Development Award
Daniel Lim, MD, PhD, University of California, San Francisco
Project: Gene therapy based induction of neurogenesis from adult human neural precursor cells
NREF/American Academy of Neurological Surgery Research Fellow
Demitre Serletis, MD, University of Toronto
Project: The neurodynamical complexity underlying noise in the brain: implications for seizure detection and prediction
NREF/Biomet Microfixation Research Fellow
Michael Sughrue, MD, University of California, San Francisco
Project: The role of complement activation in glioma proliferation
NREF/Cerebrovascular Section Research Fellow
Michael T. Koltz, MD, University of Maryland
Project: SURI-regulated NC(Ca-ATP) channel, a novel therapeutic target in perinatal hypoxia and germinal matrix hemorrhage
NREF/Codman Research Fellow
Shahid Nimjee, MD, Duke University
Project: Antidote-controlled platelet inhibition using RNA aptamer technology
NREF/DePuy Spine Research Fellow
Zeguang Ren, MD, University of Rochester
Project: Antagonism of ephrinB2 in astrocytes to promote spinal cord injury repair in mice
NREF/Medtronic Research Fellow
Joel Bauman, MD, University of Pennsylvania
Project: Motion preservation and dynamic stabilization in port-laminectomy cervical spine: facet joint kinematics and pressures in a human cadaveric model
NREF/Porex Surgical Research Fellow
Kaveh Asadi-Moghaddam, MD, Ohio State University
Project: The role of microRNA-128 in glioma stem cell self-renewal
NREF/Spine and Peripheral Nerves Section Research Fellow
Raqeeb Haque, MD, Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center
Project: A novel approach for convection enhanced delivery of nerve growth factors in a peripheral nerve bridge model to bypass spinal cord injury
Young Clinician Investigator Award
Michael Lim, MD, Johns Hopkins University
Project: Immune characterization of STAT3 in GBM
2009 Medical Student Summer Research Fellows
Fifteen Medical Student Summer Research Fellowships are awarded annually by the AANS through the NREF. The 2009 fellows, each awarded $2,500, are: Jeffrey Barry, University of California, San Francisco; Yevgeniya Byekova, University of Alabama; Ian Crain, Barrow Neurological Institute; Nihar Gala, University Hospital, UMDNJ; Jasmine Hasselback, University of Ottawa; Francis Huttinger, University of Cincinnati; Cynthia Loder, University of Virginia; Vivek Mehta, Johns Hopkins University; Thomas Noh, Duke University Medical Center; Brenton Pennicooke, Harvard Medical School; Sandhya -Ravichandran, University of Utah; Adam Shen, University of Pennsylvania; Shelly Wang, University of Toronto; Teresa Wojtasiewicz, Columbia University; and Grettel Zamora-Berridi, University of Michigan.
The AANS established the Medical Student Summer Research Fellowship in 2007. The fellowship is open to medical students in the United States or Canada who have completed one or two years of medical school and wish to spend a summer working in a neurosurgical laboratory. The student must be mentored by a neurosurgical investigator who is a member of the AANS and will serve as sponsor to the student. Applications for the 2010 awards are available at www.aans.org/otheresearch and are due Feb. 1, 2010.
Julie A. Quattrocchi is NREF development coordinator.