MND Team Awards
Microbiome, Neurobiology and Disease Team Awards
Goal: to advance fundamental understanding of the gut-brain axis and the roles microbiota play in neurodegenerative disorders.
Team Awards 2023
Abhishek Shrivastava, Life Sciences, Arizona State University
Kai Zhang, Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Could Feces be Used as a Natural Time Capsule for Mapping of Signal-Generating Hubs within the Gut?
Will Ludington, Embryology, Carnegie Institution
Karthik Shekhar, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering / Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California, Berkeley
How Does the Microbiome-Gut-Brain Cascade Activate Glia? A Single-Cell Transcriptomic and Functional Roadmap in the Fruit Fly
Mei Shen, Chemistry, Neuroscience Program, Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
Heather Bean, Life Sciences, Arizona State University
Yanjiao Zhou, Medicine, UConn Health
Investigating the Influence of Air Pollution VOCs on Alzheimer’s Disease-Like Pathology
Chun-Jun Guo, Medicine, Weill Cornell Medical College
Yanjiao Zhou, Medicine, UConn Health
Annie Ciernia, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia
Decipher the “Molecular Language’ between Microbiota-Microglia Crosstalk Using a Genetically Tractable Microbiome
Annie Ciernia, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, University of British Columbia
Christopher Whidbey, Chemistry, Seattle University
Identification of Microglial Receptors for Microbiota Derived Metabolites
Stephanie Cologna, Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago *
Leah Pyter, Psychiatry, Ohio State University
The Role of Gut Metabolites in “Chemobrain”
Sarah MacEachern, Pediatrics, University of Calgary
Kendall Corbin, Horticulture, University of Kentucky
Heather Bean, Life Sciences, Arizona State University
Embracing Complexity: Exploring the Connections between Chronic Fatigue, Behavior, and Gut Microbiome Dysbiosis in Children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Dhara Shah, Mathematical & Natural Sciences, Arizona State University
Santiago Cuesta, Cell Biology and Neuroscience, Rutgers University
Gut Catecholamine Levels as Modulators of Addiction Behaviors
* Funded by Walder Foundation
Team Awards 2022
Elizabeth Bess, Chemistry, University of California, Irvine
Aida Ebrahimi, Electrical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University
Electrifying Mechanisms of Intestinal α-Synuclein Aggregation in Parkinson’s Disease Onset
Annika Barber, Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Rutgers University
David Durgan, Anesthesiology, Baylor College of Medicine
Diurnal Rhythms in Microbiota-Gut-Brain Signaling Leads to Time-of-Day Dependent Susceptibility to Stroke
Linnea Freeman, Biology, Furman University
Gianna Hammer, Immunology, University of Utah
Lisa Osborne, Microbiology & Immunology, University of British Columbia
The Intersection of Age, Microbiome and the Zeal for Continuous Learning by Cells of the Neuro-Immune Network
Lisa Osborne, Microbiology & Immunology, University of British Columbia
Ukpong Eyo, Neuroscience, University of Virginia
Understanding the Protective Effect of Helminth Immunotherapy Through the Lens of the Gut-Brain Axis
Yanjiao Zhou, Medicine, UConn Health
Ashley Ross, Chemistry, University of Cincinnati
Unraveling the Effect and Mechanism of Enteric Microbiota-Neuron Communication in Aging
Iliyan Iliev, Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine
Faranak Fattahi, Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco
Identifying Mycobiome-Derived Enteric Neuromodulators
Elizabeth Bess, Chemistry, University of California, Irvine
Stephanie Cologna, Chemistry, University of Illinois at Chicago *
Tracking Alpha-synuclein from Enteroendocrine Cells to the Enteric Nervous System
* Funded by Walder Foundation
Team Awards 2021
Elaine Hsiao, Integrative Biology & Physiology, University of California, Los Angeles
Amina Schartup, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Mei Shen, Chemistry, Neuroscience Program, Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Harnessing the Microbiome to Combat the Neurotoxic Effects of Dietary Mercury
Nandita Garud, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles
Will Ludington, Embryology, Carnegie Institution
Do Aging Microbiomes Evolve Pathogenicity Via Gene Shedding? Using Evolutionary Theory to Deconstruct Microbiome-based Neurodegeneration
David Durgan, Anesthesiology, Baylor College of Medicine
Abhishek Shrivastava, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University
Do Bacterial Outer Membrane Vesicles (OMVs) Act as Modulators of Microbiota-brain Communication Involved in the Development of Neurological Diseases?
Faranak Fattahi, Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco
Mark Mimee, Microbiology/Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering, University of Chicago
Species-specific Modulation of Human Enteric Neurons by Gut Microbiome Metabolites
Maayan Levy, Microbiology, University of Pennsylvania
Ashley Ross, Chemistry, University of Cincinnati
Kai Zhang, Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Engineering Enteric Neuron Activity to Enhance Antimicrobial Immunity in the Gut
Carolina Tropini, Microbiology and Immunology, School of Biomedical Engineering, University of British Columbia
JP Yu, Radiology, Psychiatry, and Biomedical Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Impact of Missing Microbes on Brain Development