MBI Accelerator Program awards $1.1M across 23 new research projects

By Todd Taylor

The McKnight Brain Institute Accelerator Program has selected 23 projects for seed-funding awards supporting novel and impactful neuroscience and neuromedicine research.

“The projects chosen highlight the breadth and depth of research that MBI investigators are conducting across the University of Florida, and we’re proud to support these innovative projects,” said MBI Director Jennifer Bizon, Ph.D.

The MBI distributed the $1.1 million in awards to investigators across seven UF colleges, with support from UF Health; UF’s Office of Research; the Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease; the Center for Aging and Memory; and the Brain Injury, Rehabilitation and Neuroresilience Center.

A scientific review committee with faculty members from across the MBI community was led by Jose Abisambra, Ph.D., the MBI’s associate director for research programs. The grants are intended to spur the success of new extramural applications and foster collaborations throughout the neuroscience and neuromedicine community.


2025 MBI Accelerator Program Award recipients:

Using cryo-EM and AI-enabled analysis to reveal mechanisms underlying tau aggregation

Paramita Chakrabarty, Ph.D., and Tina Izard, Ph.D.

College of Medicine and Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute


Localized delivery of chondroitinase ABC via decellularized human peripheral nerve-based injectable hydrogels for spinal cord regeneration

Christine Schmidt, Ph.D., David Fuller, Ph.D., and Gregory Hudalla, Ph.D.

Colleges of Engineering and Public Health and Health Professions


portraits of doctors

Decoding thought into speech: MEG-driven speech synthesis for real-time communication

Abbas Babajani-Feremi, Ph.D., and James Wymer, M.D.

College of Medicine


portrait of doc bird

Disrupting myosin-dependent tunneling nanotubes as a therapeutic to modulate tauopathy in Alzheimer’s disease

Jonathan Bird, Ph.D.

College of Medicine


Portraits of doctors Ebner and Seidler

High-frequency sensory flicker stimulation for enhancing behavior and brain function in aging and Alzheimer’s disease

Natalie Ebner, Ph.D., and Rachael Seidler, Ph.D.

Colleges of Liberal Arts & Sciences and Health and Human Performance


Portraits of doctors Sarkisian, Zhang and Harrison.

Leveraging novel miRNA-dendrimers to promote a type 1 interferon/NK cell response against malignant glioma

Matthew Sarkisian, Ph.D., Fan Zhang, Ph.D., and Jeff Harrison, Ph.D.

Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy


portrait of doc elton

Effects of methylphenidate modulation of attention on neural responses to alcohol cues

Amanda Elton, Ph.D.

College of Medicine


portaits

A pilot study to evaluate AB-free kava as a botanical drug for the treatment of insomnia

Carol Mathews, M.D., Chengguo Xing, Ph.D., and Abhisheak Sharma, M.Pharm., Ph.D.

Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy


portrait of Yuqing Li

Animal models and pathophysiology of restless legs syndrome

Yuqing Li, Ph.D.

College of Medicine


portrait of may khanna

In silico targeting of mRNA with small molecules: Drugging the undruggable

May Khanna, Ph.D.

College of Medicine


Rapid DNA displacement for wash-free high-plex RNA imaging in 3D tissues and single cell transcriptomics to resolve neural connectome in brain tissues

Fan Hong, Ph.D.

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences


maurer

Metabolic modulation of local field potential organization during aging and Alzheimer’s disease genetic risk

Andrew Maurer, Ph.D.

College of Medicine


Model simulations of upper airway, swallow, and breathing behaviors

Don Bolser, Ph.D., and John Hayes, Ph.D., M.S.

College of Veterinary Medicine


Adrienn Varga

Central neural mechanisms of breathing dysfunction in a mouse model of synucleinopathies

Adrienn Varga, Ph.D.

College of Medicine


portraits

Targeting polymeric glycine-arginine with immunotherapy for Alzheimer’s disease

Lien Nguyen, Ph.D., and Benoit Giasson, Ph.D.

College of Medicine


doctor Stefanie Bodison

Vestibular processing in children with SNHL

Stefanie Bodison, OTD, OTR/L

College of Public Health and Health Professions


Barry Setlow

Dopamine signaling of reward and punishment during risky decision making; effects of GLP-1 agonist administration

Barry Setlow, Ph.D.

College of Medicine


portraits of doctors

Astrocytic expression of pentraxin 3 impacts glial scar formation during cryptococcal meningoencephalitis

Luis Martinez, Ph.D., M.S., M.B.A., and Karina Alvina, Ph.D.

Colleges of Dentistry and Medicine


portrait of doctor candelario-jalil

Targeting myeloid pfkfb3-driven glycolysis to improve ischemic stroke outcomes

Eduardo Candelario-Jalil, Ph.D.

College of Medicine


portrait of Keil and Burke

Computational inference of hippocampal field potentials from scalp-recorded EEG: Cross-species validation and application to multimodal brain imaging

Andreas Keil, Ph.D., and Sara Burke, Ph.D.

Colleges of Liberal Arts & Sciences and Medicine


portrait of maciel

VIGAB-BIOSTAT: Neuronal injury panel sub-study

Carolina Maciel, M.D., MSCR

College of Medicine


portrait of Breton Asken

Immune signaling mechanisms of tau pathogenesis following repetitive head impact exposure: A human-to-mouse translational pilot study

Breton Asken, Ph.D.

College of Public Health and Health Professions


portrait of rincon-limas

A new drosophila platform to zooming in on alpha-synuclein proteinopathies

Diego Rincon-Limas, Ph.D.

College of Medicine