Paulina Soto, PhD
Grant Title: New strains, new risks: evaluating the host range and zoonotic potential of CWD prion strains
Location: The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
Grant Year: 2026
Daniel Ojeda-Juarez, PhD
Grant Title: Characterizing Early Synaptic Dysfunction in Human Prion Disease Using a Human iPSC-Derived Neuronal Model
Location: University of California, San Diego
Grant Year: 2026
Prof. Neil A. Mabbott
Grant Title: Haematopoietic stem cell gene therapy as a novel therapeutic for CNS prion disease
Location: The Roslin Institute & Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh
Grant Year: 2026
Jingxin Wang, PhD
Grant Title: Development of RNA Splicing Modulators for the Treatment of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD)
Location: University of Chicago
Grant Year: 2026
David A. Harris, MD, PhD
Grant Title: Using a Kuru-Protective PrP Mutation as a Novel Prion Therapy
Location: Edgar Minas Housepian Professor & Chair, Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Boston University/Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Grant Year: 2026
Vanessa Laversenne, PhD
Grant Title: Hypomorphic low PrP expressing mice as models for prion replication and native function
Location: Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
Grant Year: 2026
Joaquín Castilla, PhD
Grant Title: Early vs late intervention: PrP-lowering therapy stage-dependent outcomes in sCJD and GSS mouse models
Location: Center for Cooperative Research in Biosciences (CIC bioGUNE), Basque Research and Technology Alliance (BRTA), Derio, Spain
Grant Year: 2026
Alex’s Family Story
Alex wrote the script and directed the film Farewell Fire, a story about life, death, and the perspective that nature gives us on how to live, inspired by his father who passed away from Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in 2020.
The Dr. Jim Barnette Memorial Grant
Contributed by: Deanna Barnette
Established in 2025
The Judy Carns Memorial Grant
Contributed by: James Carns
Established in 2025