2025 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Awards
April 01, 2026 - The Hartwell Foundation officially announced today the recipients of 2024 Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Awards. Each Award provides support for three years at $100,000 direct cost per year. Ten individuals representing ten institutions received recognition as Hartwell Investigators:
- Emma J. Chory, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, for "Biosynthesis of Therapeutic Peptides for Undruggable Drivers of Cancer"
- Miguel Jimenez, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, for "Localization of Optimal Microbial Therapy in Inflammatory Bowel Disease"
- Shira G. Ziegler, MD, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, for "Genetic Modifiers of Pathological Calcification as Therapeutic Targets"
- Anna S. Nam, MD, Assistant Professor Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Cornell University, for "Targeting Inflammatory Myeloid Differentiation Pathways that Drive Systemic Lupus Erythematosus"
- Leah A. Gates, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Biochemistry, Case Western Reserve University, for "Targeting Epigenetic Regulation in Cystic Fibrosis Gut Disease"
- Samuel E. Weinberg, MD, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Pathology, Northwestern University, for "Establishing Mitochondrial Causality in Immune Dysfunction"
- Alanna Strong, MD, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania, for "Harnessing Pharmacologic Developmental Pathway Modulators to Treat Vascular Malformations"
- Rachel M. Russo, MD, Assistant Professor Surgery, University of California, Davis, for "Extracellular Vesicle Therapy for Traumatic Brain Injury"
- Scott B. Biering, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Molecular Biology, University of California, San Diego, for "Contribution of Viral Toxin-Triggered Vascular Leak to Respiratory Syncytial Virus Pathogenesis"
- Preethi P. Ganesan, MD, Ph.D., Assistant Professor Pediatrics, University of California, San Diego for "Immune Targeting of Diffuse Midline Glioma"
The 2025 award-winning proposals represent early-stage, innovative and cutting-edge technology in Medicine and Biomedical Engineering, covering research areas that include Cancer, Molecular Biology, Infectious Disease, Physiology, and Neurobiology. The Hartwell Foundation is pleased to provide financial support to these early career scientists who are pursuing biomedical research to advance children's health.
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 and with the potential to benefit children of the United States. In the 2025 competition that began September 15, sixteen institutions were invited to participate. Based upon the Nominees submitted, the Foundation selected 10 researchers from nine different institutions to receive a Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award.
"In our 20th year supporting innovative, early-stage biomedical research with the potential to benefit children, the 2025 competition for Individual Biomedical Research Awards proved once again to be exceptional. Nominees who received an Award 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 Award recipient, those participating Hartwell institutions that supported winning proposals receive additional 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 are asked to designate to a qualified postdoctoral researcher in the early stage of their career. Each Fellowship provides support for two years at $50,000 direct cost per year to enable specialized training in biomedical research.
"The 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 Fred Dombrose, President of The Hartwell Foundation.
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.
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2025 Hartwell Investigator Shira Ziegler, MD, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University
2025 Hartwell Investigator Scott Biering, PH.D., University of California, San Diego
2025 Hartwell Investigator Anna Nam, MD, Cornell University
2025 Hartwell Investigator Leah Gates, Ph.D., Case Western University
2025 Hartwell Investigator Preethi Ganesan, MD, PH.D., University of California, San Diego
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