Graphic with the words ‘Brain Health Institute Announces Pilot Grant Program Awardees’ alongside a grid of medical and brain‑imaging visuals.

UTMB Brain Health Institute announces 2nd annual Pilot Grant Program winners

The University of Texas Medical Branch Brain Health Institute, a neuroscience hub focused on rapidly transitioning groundbreaking discoveries in biomedical neuroscience to clinical applications, recently announced the awardees of its 2nd Annual Pilot Grant Program.

“As we look to the future of brain health, the UTMB Brain Health Institute remains dedicated to leading the way in innovative approaches to solving disorders of the brain and nervous system,” said Dr. Giulio Taglialatela, vice president and director of the UTMB Brain Health Institute. “The winners of the Pilot Grant Program represent a crucial step toward achieving these goals and reinforce our commitment at the forefront of neuroscience excellence.”

This year’s awardees are:


Drs. Noelle Anastasio & Jonathan Hommel Mechanisms and Therapeutic Targets of Impulsivity, an Endophenotype Underlying Serious Mental Illnesses


Drs. Patrick J. Karas, Diosely Silveira, Jiefei Wang, Anne-Cecile Lesage & Liliana Camarillo Rodriguez Integrating Computational Epileptic Zone Identification Algorithms for Advanced Analysis and Visualization of Intracranial EEG Recording


Drs. Gracie Vargas, Wenbo Zhang, Robin Stephens, Yunfeng Chen & Bala Natarujan Retina Brain Axis in Experimental Cerebral Malaria


Drs. Fernanda Laezza, Agenor Limon & Jia Zhou Development of GSK3 Modulators for Early-Stage Alzheimer’s

To learn more about the UTMB Brain Health Institute, visit https://www.utmb.edu/brainhealthinstitute.

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