The Hartwell Foundation
 

2015 Class Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Awards

Memphis, TN, April 01, 2016 - The Hartwell Foundation today officially announced the winners of the 2015 competition for Individual Biomedical Research Awards, which will provide support for three years at $100,000 direct cost per year. Twelve individuals representing nine institutions received recognition as Hartwell Investigators:

  • Justin J. Taylor, Ph.D., Assistant Member, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center for "Providing Life-Long Protection Against Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection without a Vaccine."
  • Brittany G. Travers, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin for "Beyond the Cerebrum: Multimodal Imaging of the Brainstem in Autism Spectrum Disorder."
  • Diego V. Bohórquez, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, Duke University, for "Targeting a Gut Sensory Neurocircuit to Modulate Autism Spectrum Disorders."
  • Rebecca R. Pompano, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia for "Non-Inflammatory Cancer Vaccines Using Lymph Nodes on a Microfluidic Chip."
  • Hoonkyo Suh, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Molecular Medicine, Case Western Reserve University for "Hippocampal Nerve Cell Networks in Autism Spectrum Disorders."
  • Ahmad S. Khalil, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University for "Detecting Antibiotic Resistance with RNA Sensors."
  • Minglin Ma, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University for "Engineering a Cellular Thread for Juvenile Diabetes."
  • David Issadore, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania for "Microchip Diagnostic for the Rapid Isolation and Identification of Human Plasma-Derived Exosomes."
  • John Lukens, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Neuroscience, University of Virginia for "Targeting the Interplay between the Immune System and Microbiota in Autism Spectrum Disorder."
  • Jeffrey N. Savas, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Neurology, Northwestern University for "Cracking the Autism Code by Correcting Hampered Synapses."
  • Reid S. Alisch, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin-Madison for "Blood-Based Diagnostic Test for Anxiety Disorder."
  • Arun Sharma, Ph.D., Research Assistant Professor, Department of Urology, Northwestern University for "Anti-inflammatory Nanomolecules for the Treatment of Crohn's Disease."

The Hartwell Foundation is pleased to provide financial support to these exceptional scientists who are pursuing biomedical research to advance childrenís health. The award winning proposals for 2015 represent innovative and cutting edge technology from research areas that include Molecular Biology, Infectious Disease, Medical Diagnostics, Medical Devices, and Neurobiology.

Each year The Hartwell Foundation invites a limited number of institutions in the United States to hold an internal open competition to nominate candidates from their faculty who are involved in early-stage, innovative, and cutting-edge biomedical research that has not yet qualified for significant funding from outside sources. In the 2015 competition there were 15 participating institutions. Based upon the Nominees submitted, the Foundation selected the top researchers to receive a Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award. Notably, Nominees from nine different schools won Awards in the 2015 Class; with the University of Wisconsin, Northwestern University and the University of Virginia each receiving two Awards.

"The 2015 competition was very competitive, with strong representation in neurobiology. Nominees who achieved success leveraged internal support and guidance from their participating institution, as well as the experience of previous Hartwell Investigators," said Fred Dombrose, President of The Hartwell Foundation.

While significant early-stage funding benefits the individual researcher, participating Hartwell institutions may also receive recognition in the form of a Hartwell Fellowship. For each Nominee selected for an Individual Biomedical Research Award the sponsoring participating institution receives one Hartwell Fellowship that they designate to a qualified postdoctoral researcher. Each Fellowship provides support for two years at $50,000 direct cost per year to candidates in the early stages of their careers that hold a Ph.D. and/or equivalent doctorate, enabling them to pursue further specialized training in biomedical research as part of their professional career development.

ìThe Hartwell Foundation seeks to inspire innovation and achievement by offering individual researchers an opportunity to realize their professional goals. Our approach is to be unique, selective, thorough and accountable. We provide an opportunity for those we support to make a difference and to realize their hopes and dreams," said Dombrose.

In selecting awardees, the Foundation takes into account the compelling and transformative nature of the proposed innovation, the extent to which a strategic or translational approach might accelerate the clinical application of research results to benefit children of the United States, the extent of collaboration in the proposed research, the institutional commitment to provide encouragement and technical support to the investigator, and the extent to which funding the investigator will make a difference.

 

2015 Hartwell Investigator Jeffrey Savas, Ph.D., Northwestern University

2015 Hartwell Investigator Jeffrey Savas, Ph.D., Northwestern University

2015 Hartwell Investigator Arun Sharma, Ph.D., Northwestern University

2015 Hartwell Investigator Arun Sharma, Ph.D., Northwestern University

2015 Hartwell Investigator Hoonkyu Suh, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University

2015 Hartwell Investigator Hoonkyu Suh, Ph.D., Case Western Reserve University

2015 Hartwell Investigator Brittany Travers, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison

2015 Hartwell Investigator Brittany Travers, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison

2015 Hartwell Investigator Reid Alisch, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison

2015 Hartwell Investigator Reid Alisch, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin-Madison

2015 Hartwell Investigator Rebecca Pompano, Ph.D., University of Virginia

2015 Hartwell Investigator Rebecca Pompano, Ph.D., University of Virginia

2015 Hartwell Investigator John Lukens, Ph.D., University of Virginia

2015 Hartwell Investigator John Lukens, Ph.D., University of Virginia

2015 Hartwell Investigator David Issadore, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania

2015 Hartwell Investigator David Issadore, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania

2015 Hartwell Investigator Ahmad Kahlil, Ph.D., Boston University

2015 Hartwell Investigator Ahmad Kahlil, Ph.D., Boston University

2015 Hartwell Investigator Minglin Ma, Ph.D., Cornell University

2015 Hartwell Investigator Minglin Ma, Ph.D., Cornell University

2015 Hartwell Investigator Diego Bohórquez, Ph.D., Duke University

2015 Hartwell Investigator Diego Bohórquez, Ph.D., Duke University

2015 Hartwell Investigator Justin Taylor, Ph.D., Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

2015 Hartwell Investigator Justin Taylor, Ph.D., Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

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