Each year, applications seeking funding for studies in basic, translational and patient-oriented clinical research are submitted and reviewed by the top neurosurgeons around the country. Members of the Grants Section Advisory Committee provide the reviews in an unbiased and independent manner, following established criteria. Reviewers volunteer their time without compensation from the NREF or any other entity. Classified into two programs, funding is provided by NREF, the Sections, the American Academy of Neurological Surgery, Medtronic and private foundations for research grants and Young Clinician Investigator Awards.
NREF Research Grants provide training for neurosurgical residents who are preparing for academic careers as clinician investigators. Applicants must be accepted into or are currently in approved residency training programs in neurological surgery in North America.
The NREF Young Clinician Investigator Awards support junior faculty who are pursuing careers as clinical investigators. Applicants must be neurosurgeons, no more than two years from the end of clinical training, who are full-time faculty in North American teaching institutions.
Funding for the 2017-2018 NREF Research Grants and Young Clinician Investigator Awards is generously provided by:
- American Academy of Neurological Surgery
- AANS/CNS Cerebrovascular Section & Arvind Ahuja, MD
- AANS/CNS Section on Neurotrauma & Critical Care
- AANS/CNS Section on Pain
- AANS/CNS Section on Pediatric Neurological Surgery
- AANS/CNS Section on Tumors
- Andrew T. Parsa Honor Your Mentor Fund
- Bagan Family Foundation
- B*CURED
- Medtronic
“Based on the extraordinary quality of the research proposals submitted from some of the most promising young researchers in the country, we are highly optimistic for the future of neurosurgery,” stated NREF Education Advisory Committee Chair Ennio A. Chiocca, MD, PhD, FAANS.
The 2017-2018 Research Grant and Young Clinician Investigator Awards
Kunal Gupta, MD, Oregon Health & Science University
Award: NREF & Bagan Family Foundation Research Fellowship Grant
Project Title: Investigating the role of Wnts in seizure-induced aberrant hippocampal neurogenesis
Sponsor: Eric Schnell, MD, PhD
Megan Jack, MD, PhD, University of Kansas
Award: NREF & AANS/CNS Section on Pain Research Fellowship Grant
Project Title: Neuroinflammation and Exercise in Regeneration and Recovery of the Injured Peripheral Nervous System
Sponsor: Doug Wright, PhD
Darryl Lau, MD, University of California-San Francisco
Award: Andrew T. Parsa Research Fellowship sponsored by the NREF and the AANS/CNS Section on Tumors Research Fellowship Grant
Project Title: The Role of c-Met/ß1-integrin Complex Formation in the Establishment of Brain Metastases
Sponsor: Manish K. Aghi, MD, PhD, FAANS
Brian Lee, MD, PhD, California Institute of Technology
Award: NREF & American Academy of Neurological Surgery Young Clinician Investigator Award
Project Title: Generating artificial sensation by electrical stimulation of the hand area of the primary somatosensory (S1) cortex for a closed-loop brainmachine interface (BMI)
Sponsor: Richard Andersen, PhD
Sarah T. Menacho, MD, University of Utah
Award: NREF & AANS/CNS Section on Neurotrauma & Critical Care Young Clinician Investigator Award
Project Title: A Tool to Improve Treatment Threshold Compliance in the Neurocritical Care Unit
Sponsor: Gregory Hawryluk, MD, PhD, FRCSC, FAANS
Arjun Vivek Pendharkar, MD, Stanford University
Award: NREF & American Academy of Neurological Surgery Research Fellowship Grant
Project Title: Role of Contralesional (Uninjured) Hemisphere Activation in Functional Recovery after Stroke
Sponsor: Gary K. Steinberg, MD, PhD, FAANS
Pablo Valdes Quevedo, MD, PhD, Harvard/Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Award: B*CURED & NREF Research Fellowship Grant
Project Title: Expansion Microscopy for Interrogation of Cancer Mechanisms and Phenotypes in Gliomas
Sponsor: Ennio A. Chiocca, MD, PhD, FAANS
Robert Starke, MD, University of Miami
Award: L. Nelson “Nick” Hopkins NREF Young Clinician Investigator Award jointly sponsored by Arvind Ahuja, MD, FAANS, and the AANS/CNS Cerebrovascular Section
Project Title: The Role of Endothelial Cell Dysfunction & Differentiation in Aneurysms Progression & Healing
Sponsor: Joshua M. Hare, MD
Krishanthan Vigneswaran, MD, Emory University
Award: NREF & AANS/CNS Section on Pediatric Neurological Surgery Research Fellowship Grant
Project Title: Identification of small molecule inhibitors of novel receptor tyrosine kinase pathways in adult and pediatric glioblastoma.
Sponsor: Jeffrey J. Olson, MD, FAANS
Jefferson Wilson, MD, University of Toronto/St. Michael’s Hospital
Award: NREF & Medtronic Young Clinician Investigator Award
Project Title: The Aging Face of Spinal Trauma: Exploring the Epidemiology and Impact of Spinal Cord Injury in the Elderly
Sponsor: Michael Fehlings, MD, PhD, FAANS
Jacky Yeung, MD, Yale University
Award: NREF & AANS/CNS Section on Tumors Research Fellowship Grant
Project Title: Immunogenetic profiling and targeting novel immune check point regulators in meningiomas
Sponsor: Lieping Chen, MD, PhD
New Fellowships and Research Grants
This year featured a first-time collaboration between the NREF and a community. A young Ohio girl died as a result of a cerebral arteriovenous malformation (AVM) and her he community fundraised in her memory. The result is a new $40,000 Young Clinician Investigator Award, which began July 1, 2018, and is focused on AVM characterization and their surrounding astrocytes. The NREF & Kate Carney Family 2018-2019 Young Clinician Investigator Award highlights the generosity that results from a successful outreach to the public.
The Albert L. Rhoton Jr. Honor Your Neurosurgical Mentor Fund awarded a first-time $40,000 Young Clinician Investigator Award to Maria Peris-Celda, MD, for the establishment of the Professor Rhoton North-East Anatomy Laboratory at the Neuroscience Institute at Albany Medical College in New York, beginning July 1, 2018. According to Dr. Peris-Celda, “This emerging laboratory in Albany aims to follow the same principles of Professor Rhoton. As part of the neurosurgical community — and especially as a former fellow of Professor Rhoton — I am committed to continuing his legacy in some way. My main objective is to keep his philosophy and teaching alive through new research and by adding new material to the Rhoton Collection®.”
The American Academy of Neurological Surgery has been a prolific supporter of the NREF Young Clinician Investigator Awards and Research Grants over the years. This year, in addition to their annual support providing partial funding to both a research grant and a Young Clinician Investigator Award, the Academy is fully funding a $40,000 2018-2019 Young Clinician Investigator Award starting July 1, 2018.
The Andrew Parsa Honor Your Mentor Fund is providing $50,000 for the first Andrew T. Parsa Research Fellowship Grant beginning July 1, 2018. Awardee Teddy Kim, MD, Wake Forest School of Medicine, submitted “VSV-LASV as oncolytic virus therapy for glioblastoma.” Proceeds from the Annual Charity Softball Tournament hosted by Columbia University each summer and funding from Brainlab contributed to the award.