The Neurosurgery Research & Education Foundation (NREF) is pleased to announce this year’s recipients of NREF Research Fellowship Grants and Young Clinician Investigator Awards.

As the premier funder of neurosurgical studies, the NREF provides support for studies in basic, translational and patient-oriented clinical research.

2020-21 Research Fellowship Grant and Young Clinician Investigator Award Recipients

Ahmad Alhourani, MD

University of Louisville

• Award: Academy of Neurological Surgeons 2020-21 Research Fellowship Grant
• Project Title: Dissecting the role of the subthalamic nucleus in inhibitory control

Mohammed Alshareef, MD

Medical University of South Carolina

• Award: AANS/CNS Section on Pediatric Neurological Surgery & NREF 2020-21 Research Fellowship Grant
• Project Title: The Role of Complement in Secondary Injury after Neonatal Germinal Matrix Hemorrhage

Matei A. Banu, MD

Columbia University

• Award: AANS/CNS Section on Tumors & NREF 2020-21 Research Fellowship Grant
• Project Title: Leveraging metabolic vulnerabilities of cell populations in the glioma microenvironment to trigger ferroptotic cell death and immune response in GBM

Jacob F. Baranoski, MD, MHS

St. Joseph’s Hospital/Barrow

• Award: L. Nelson “Nick” Hopkins/NREF 2020-21 Research Fellowship Grant jointly sponsored by Arvind Ahuja, MD, FAANS, and the AANS/CNS Cerebrovascular Section
• Project Title: Effects of dietary phytoestrogens on aneurysm wall inflammation and rates of aneurysmal rupture

Stanley Bazarek, MD, PhD

Brigham & Women’s Hospital / Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard University

• Award: NREF/Medtronic 2020-2021 Research Fellowship Grant
• Project Title: Transplantation of Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Spinal Motor Neurons to Restore Function following Peripheral Nerve or Spinal Cord Injury

Victoria E. Clark, MD, PhD

Massachusetts General Hospital

• Award: Andrew T. Parsa 2020-21 Research Fellowship Grant
• Project Title: Characterizing Recurrent RNA Polymerase II Meningioma Driver Mutations

Laureen D. Hachem, MD

Toronto Western Hospital

• Award: Academy of Neurological Surgeons/NREF 2020-21 Research Fellowship Grant
• Project Title: Elucidating the mechanisms of glutamate-mediated activation of adult spinal cord neural stem/progenitor cells to reveal therapeutic targets for spinal cord injury

Jennifer Hong, MD

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center

• Award: Bagan Family Foundation/NREF 2020-21 Young Clinician Investigator Award
• Project Title: Axonal reprogramming to accelerate nerve regeneration

Ramin A. Morshed, MD

University of California, San Francisco

• Award: AANS/CNS Section on Tumors & NREF 2020-21 Research Fellowship Grant
• Project Title: Identification of genes mediating brain-tropism in a syngeneic model of metastatic breast cancer

Cody Lee Nesvick, MD

Mayo Clinic

• Award: Academy of Neurological Surgeons/NREF 2020-21 Research Fellowship Grant
• Project Title: Reversal Through Revertance: Targeting Pathogenic Mutations in Pediatric Brain Tumors with Gene Editing

Chad A. Tuchek, MD

University of Kansas Medical Center

• Award: AANS/CNS Section on Neurotrauma & Critical Care/NREF 2020-21 Research Fellowship Grant
• Project Title: Evaluation of Novel Polymeric Substrates for Direct Extradural Application of Therapies Following Traumatic Brain Injury: An Innovative Approach to a Difficult Problem

For more information about the NREF Research Fellowship Grants and Young Clinician Investigator Awards or other grant and fellowship programs, contact the NREF at 847.378.0500 or info@nref.org.