Penn experts earn NIH Director’s awards for “exceptionally high impact” research
The awards support unconventional approaches to major challenges in biomedical and behavioral research.
Six researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania have been recognized for their creative research through the National Institutes of Health Director’s awards from the NIH Common Fund’s High-Risk, High-Reward Research program. The awards were created to support unconventional approaches to major challenges in biomedical and behavioral research. The six Penn Medicine researchers include:
Shedding light on how memories survive brain regeneration
Roberto Bonasio, PhD, a professor of Cell and Developmental Biology, who was awarded the NIH's Pioneer Award. Established in 2004, the award challenges investigators at all career levels to pursue new research directions and develop groundbreaking, high-impact approaches to a broad area of biomedical and behavioral science.
Bonasio's laboratory focuses on the molecular mechanisms of epigenetic memory, which are critical for processes such as embryonic development, stem cell versatility, brain function and others. His research seeks to understand how special molecules, called noncoding RNAs, control how cells "remember" their roles, affecting everything from tiny cell parts to entire living creatures. This work sheds light on the complex system that helps multicellular life, like humans and animals, function properly.
The award will help support Bonasio's research into how planarian flatworms can retain memories after regrowing their brains, suggesting that RNA might carry these memories. This could help us understand if and how memories and behaviors might be inherited in animals, including humans, in new and surprising ways.
Building dynamic gene therapies
A recent addition to the Penn faculty, Lucie Guo, MD, PHD, an assistant professor of Ophthalmology, received the Early Independence Award to support her lab’s new research into “smart” gene therapies that may respond dynamically to disease conditions. Her goal with this work is to develop precision medicine techniques to protect and restore vision.
She’d received both her MD and PhD from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, then completed her Ophthalmology residency and Surgical Retina fellowship at Stanford University before returning to her alma mater. At Stanford, she worked on developing new gene editing and genome regulation tools for gene therapies.
Developing non-invasive treatments for debilitating brain disorders
Casey Halpern, MD, a professor of Neurosurgery, was also honored with the Pioneer Award.
This award will support his long-standing vision of developing technologies for multiple disorders of the brain, including major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and substance use disorder (SUD). These disorders have all been linked to dysfunction of areas that exist very deep in the brain, unreachable by available treatments.
Halpern’s work will shift focus from the surgical brain stimulation techniques that his lab has been studying for a decade to less invasive and even non-invasive strategies, like focused ultrasound. His lab aims to study ultrasound’s ability to reach the deep structures in the brain that drive disorders like OCD and SUD, while developing strategies to do so more precisely and without irreversibly affecting the brain.
Transforming how the body burns energy to treat obesity
David Michael Merrick, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of Endocrinology. Diabetes, and Metabolism, has been awarded the New Innovator Award. This award, established in 2007, supports unusually innovative research from early career investigators who are within 10 years of their final degree or clinical residency and have not yet received a large independent NIH grant.
Merrick's research proposes using thermogenic adipose tissue, which burns energy, to increase energy expenditure in obese patients by expanding these cells outside the body and controlling them with a novel light-activated receptor. This approach could lead to new cell-based therapies to help maintain long-term weight loss by boosting metabolism without the drawbacks of existing treatments.
Advancing understanding of gene regulation in blood disorders
Elizabeth Traxler, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of Hematology-Oncology, was also honored with the Early Independence Award. Established in 2011, the award provides an opportunity for exceptional junior scientists who have recently received their doctoral degree or completed their clinical training to bypass the traditional post-doctoral training period to launch independent research careers.
Traxler’s laboratory investigates novel mechanisms of developmental gene expression during red blood cell development, with a focus on hemoglobinopathy disorders such as sickle cell disease and thalassemia. Her studies have culminated in first-author manuscripts in Nature Medicine, Blood, and Developmental Cell. Looking ahead, Traxler’s research looks to advance innovation for patients with blood disorders and deepen our understanding of fundamental mechanisms of gene regulation.
Scar-free healing innovations in dermatology
Leo Le Wang, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of Dermatology, also received the Early Independence Award to develop advanced skin treatments that help wounds heal without scarring. His research uses specially designed gel-like materials called hydrogels that release healing signals to encourage the skin to regrow hair follicles, a key step toward scar-free healing. Inspired by a natural process seen in mice, this approach could lead to injectable or patch-based therapies that improve recovery after surgery or injury.
The NIH Common Fund supports a series of exceptionally high-impact programs that cross NIH Institutes and Centers. Common Fund programs pursue major opportunities and gaps in biomedical research that require NIH-wide collaboration to succeed. The High-Risk, High-Reward Research program is part of the NIH Common Fund.