12 VP&S Scientists Awarded Schaefer Scholar Grants
Three Visiting International Researchers Also Receive Awards
Twelve scientists at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons have received awards from the Schaefer Research Scholars Program, made possible through a bequest from Dr. Ludwig Schaefer.
This year, the annual awards were granted to distinguished VP&S scientists exploring new directions in their research or proposing research designed to reveal new aspects of human physiology. Each award consists of up to $100,000 in direct research support.
Three visiting scientists also received awards, which are designed to foster new or existing collaborations with VP&S colleagues.
Read more about the awardees and their projects below:
VP&S Awardees
Assistant Professor of Pathology & Cell Biology
Recalibrating Nutrient and Growth Signaling During Human Aging
This project will investigate how growth-promoting pathways that are essential early in life are adaptively reconfigured during aging to preserve cellular and tissue resilience. These studies may uncover fundamental mechanisms of aging and identify new strategies to promote healthy metabolic function during aging.
Associate Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics (in Anesthesiology and in the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research)
Designing a toolkit of isoform-specific mini-protein binders for tagless labeling and isolation of ankyrin ion channel complexes
The goal of Oliver Clarke’s proposal is to computationally design and validate miniprotein binders against neuronal and muscle ankyrins, in order to facilitate labeling, isolation and functional characterization of ankyrin-ion channel interactions, disruption of which is associated with neuropsychatric disorders (for neuronal complexes) and hereditary cardiac arrhythmias (for cardiac complexes).
Assistant Professor of Physiology & Cell Biology
Tuning the Leak: Molecular Mechanisms and Targeted Therapeutics for NALCN Channelopathies
Gain-of-function variants in the sodium leak channel (NALCN) cause excessive sodium influx and underlie a rare, severe neurodevelopmental disorder called CLIFAHDD (Congenital contractures of the Limbs and Face, Hypotonia, and Developmental Delay). This project seeks to identify the cellular and molecular mechanisms governing NALCN function and to develop novel protein-based approaches to downregulate NALCN currents, laying the groundwork for future therapeutics.
Joan and Paul Marks, MD '49 Assistant Professor of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics
Mutation-Agnostic Silencing of Pathological Alleles by CRISPR-IMPRINT
Shawn Liu and his team are developing CRISPR-IMPRINT, a novel epigenome editing platform that can selectively silence disease-causing gene copies in patients with dominant genetic disorders, without altering the healthy copy, aiming to create a mutation-agnostic therapeutic strategy capable of treating a broad spectrum of patients with a single molecular design.
Assistant Professor of Molecular Pharmacology & Therapeutics
The role of the intestinal nervous system in the neurodegenerative process
This project will look to determine whether the enteric nervous system, the neurons that live inside the walls of the intestine, are an origin for neurodegenerative disorders of the brain.
Assistant Professor of Surgery
An Antigen-Agnostic Screening Platform for Novel CAR-T Cells
Kazuki Sugahara will develop a novel platform to identify effective CAR-T constructs for cancer therapy. By eliminating the need to pre-identify tumor-specific antigens, the approach could help overcome a major limitation of CAR-T therapy: the scarcity of targetable antigens.
Florence Irving Assistant Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology (in the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center)
Aneuploidy associated tissue-specific consequences in cancer
Alison Taylor’s research program focuses on using functional genomics to understand the consequences of individual aneusomies in squamous cell carcinoma. As part of this award, and motivated by her lab's recent findings of tissue-specific aneuploidy breakpoints and gene expression patterns, she will investigate how aneuploidy influences tumor development in a tissue-specific manner.
Warner-Lambert Assistant Professor of Medicine (in Columbia Center for Human Development) and Assistant Professor of Genetics and Development
Limbal stem cells in corneal epithelial homeostasis and regeneration
Kelley Yan’s lab focuses on adult stem cells in the gut that regenerate the gut lining. In this project, she will apply some of their findings and approaches to the eye by studying how the corneal epithelium regenerates, toward the ultimate goal of enhancing healing of corneal injuries.
Assistant Professor of Molecular Pharmacology & Therapeutics
CellLog: Non-Destructive Longitudinal Tracking of Cellular History
This proposal aims to develop a novel system to track and reconstruct cell state transitions over time.
James A. Wolff Professor of Pediatrics, Pathology & Cell Biology, and Microbiology & Immunology (in the Institute for Cancer Genetics and Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center)
Ku as a Primate- and Human-Specific Master Regulator of RNA Homeostasis: Implications for Cancer and Neurodegeneration
With this support, the Zha lab will investigate how the Ku protein, long known for its role in DNA repair, also regulates RNA processing and related cellular stress responses in primate cells. These results will shed light on the evolutionary adaptation that enabled primates to tolerate massive Alu expansion and harness the resulting increase in genome and transcriptome complexity.
Professor of Systems Biology and Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics (in the Motor Neuron Center)
From innate immunity to neurodegeneration: mapping the RNA structure regulome of dsRBPs
In this project, Chaolin Zhang and his team will develop next-generation technologies for mapping the RNA structure regulome of double-stranded RNA-binding proteins, which has the potential to transform studies of RNA regulation in antiviral immunity, neurodevelopmental disorders, and neurodegenerative disease.
Assistant Professor of Medical Sciences (in Medicine)
Enhancing macrophage efferocytosis to mitigate autoimmunity and inflammaging
This award will support research exploring how enhanced macrophage clearance of dying cells may restore immune balance and reduce chronic inflammation, with the goal of advancing new therapeutic strategies for autoimmunity and age-associated chronic inflammation.
Visiting Faculty
Vita-Salute San Raffaele University (Italy)
Breaking immune barriers to porcine xenotransplantation by targeting activating ligands of human NK cells and macrophages to improve the compatibility of pig-derived tissues. Host: Megan Sykes, PhD (Medicine)
Raniero Chimienti will study how targeting activating ligands that trigger human NK cell and macrophage responses can improve the immune compatibility of porcine islets and hematopoietic cells, promoting graft survival, mixed chimerism, and tolerance in xenotransplantation.
Sapienza Università di Roma (Italy)
Targeting Microtubule Remodeling in Microglia: A Novel Approach to Monitoring and Modulating Neuroinflammation in Neurodegenerative Disease
Host: Francesca Bartolini, PhD (Pathology & Cell Biology)
This project explores a novel paradigm in neuroinflammatory and neurodegenerative disease research by investigating how remodeling of the microtubule cytoskeleton in microglia regulates inflammatory responses, using advanced human stem cell-derived models. By leveraging dynamic cytoskeletal changes as both detection markers and therapeutic targets, this work aims to uncover innovative strategies for diagnosing and treating neurodegenerative disorders.
Università del Piemonte Orientale (Italy)
Exploiting NAD(P) Metabolism in Plasmodium falciparum-infected Red Blood Cells as a Therapeutic Target
Host: Filippo Mancia, PhD (Physiology & Cellular Biophysics)
Silvia Garavaglia’s project aims to uncover the structural organization and molecular mechanisms of the NAD biosynthetic pathway in Plasmodium falciparum, one of the deadliest malaria parasites. By combining structural biology, biochemistry, and parasite-based assays, the research seeks to identify innovative multi-target antimalarial strategies capable of overcoming the rapid emergence of drug resistance.