We are delighted to announce 20 exciting projects in the sixth and seventh round of UK DRI Pilot Awards Programme. The initiative is designed to encourage UK DRI early career researchers (ECRs) to take steps towards independence, whilst pursuing new and innovative avenues of research.
In the latest round, the scheme was expanded to two distinct funding streams – Discovery and Translation. The translation stream is supported by LifeArc, as part of the UK DRI’s strategic partnership with the charity. The dual streams offer ECRs the opportunity to explore new avenues of research aimed at understanding neurodegenerative diseases or accelerating the progression of research along the translation pathway. Each awardee will receive up to £50,000 for the one-year projects.
Congratulations to the ECRs who have been awarded funding in this latest round of the Pilot Award Programme. We were impressed by the exceptional quality and diversity of applications received, showcasing the broad range of focus areas across the institute.
Science Review Manager
As part of UK DRI’s increased commitment to ECR career development, the discovery stream will now run twice a year, with up to 12 awards available annually. UK DRI has also begun to implement grant writing workshops which are available to all potential applicants. Successful awardees will also have the opportunity to take part in EMBO’s prestigious Lab Leadership courses, which aims to equip researchers with the skills needed to run an independent research programme.
Dr Bradley Roberts, UK DRI Science Review Manager, said:
“Congratulations to the ECRs who have been awarded funding in this latest round of the Pilot Award Programme. We were impressed by the exceptional quality and diversity of applications received, showcasing the broad range of focus areas across the institute, and we look forward to seeing how these new awarded projects advance the field. In recognition of the programme’s significant impact to date, we’re delighted to be able to increase our commitment to this intramural funding programme, running it twice per year and with additional wraparound support for applicants and awardees.”
The projects awarded funding in rounds 6 and 7 are as follows:
UK DRI Pilot Awards – Discovery Stream
- Daniel Maddison (Avezov Lab), Developing expansion microscopy of human brain tissue to assess intracellular ultrastructure in the ageing and diseased brain
- Sonia Garcia Ruiz (Ryten Lab), Investigating the extent and impact of splicing noise in Alzheimer's disease using genome-wide short- and long-read RNA-sequencing
- Sarah Carpanini (Morgan Lab), Determining the role of complement in driving T-cell responses in Alzheimer’s disease
- Sophie Morse (Morse Lab), Ultrasound microglial modulation – Harnessing focused ultrasound technology against Alzheimer's disease
- Joy Ismail (Marzi/Matthews Labs), Profiling cell type-specific histone acetylation changes in striatum of patients with Parkinson’s
- Rebecca Casterton (Mizielinska Lab), Investigating neuronal cell cycle re-entry in C9ORF72 ALS/FTD
- Aina Badia (Brancaccio Lab), Targeting broken clocks in Alzheimer's disease
- Maria Weinert (Skene Lab), Manipulating microglia states with transcription factors for neuroprotection in Alzheimer’s disease
- Alyssa Miller (Ule Lab), The role of nuclear speckles in the mutual homeostasis of aggregation-prone proteins
- Nurun Fancy (Matthews Lab), Investigating the role of LRRK2 in microglial senescence in neurodegenerative diseases
- Maria Sabina Cerrullo & Francesca Chaloner (Barnes Lab), Developing a closed-loop, non-invasive, bioelectronic stimulation system to target amyloid-related pathophysiology
- Sara Wong (Wisden Lab), Loss of REM sleep: a biomarker for amyloidosis?
We’re excited to expand the LifeArc partnership activities to support early career researchers by running a translation specific stream of this programme for the first time. It’s fantastic to see a range of projects with great potential for impact, and I look forward to seeing how these progress.
Translation Portfolio Manager
UK DRI Pilot Awards – Translation Stream supported by the UK DRI – LifeArc Strategic Translational Partnership
- Junheng Li (Grossman Lab) - Development of sleep-onset EEG biomarkers for early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases
- Evgeniia Lobanova (Klenerman Lab) - Developing a single molecule assay in blood as a diagnostic tool for Parkinson’s
- Aravind Kumar Kamaraj (Dijk Lab) - A computational biomarker to screen for epilepsy in people with Alzheimer’s disease
- Michael Flower (Tabrizi Lab) - CSF biomarkers for somatic instability and treatment efficacy
- Georg Meisl (Klenerman Lab) - Simulations on a virtual brain model to predict drug efficacy in Alzheimer’s disease
- Antoine Mangin (Dion Lab) - Using the CRISPR/Cas9 nickase to contract expanded short tandem repeats
- Shreya Parthadas Sharma (Selvaraj Lab) - Validation of a novel therapeutic target for ALS
- Adrien Rapeaux (Constandinou Lab) - Point-of-Care High-Density EMG Measurement at Home for Longitudinal Monitoring of MND Symptoms and Progression
Paul Wright, Head of the MND Translational Challenge at LifeArc said:
“LifeArc is proud to support the translation stream of the UK DRI Pilot Awards Programme, helping early career researchers take critical steps towards advancing innovative research. By fostering the development of new approaches to tackling neurodegenerative diseases, we’re committed to ensuring that promising discoveries have a clear pathway to translation and real-world impact.”
The next round of the Discovery Pilot Awards opens on Monday 21 October 2024. UK DRI researchers can find more information on the Portal.
Banner image: Shutterstock/Clare M