Meet the 2024 ABTA grant recipients at the forefront of the brain tumor research community.   

Donations from individuals to large groups in the brain tumor community have been the engine to power the ABTA and invest more than $36 million in over 800 research projects to date. The ABTA has been dedicated to funding brain tumor research, especially for new scientists, over the last half century. By investing in early-career researchers from the start of their medical training, ABTA aims to advance brain tumor research while empowering the next generation of doctors and scientists to make breakthroughs in neuro-oncology. 

“Through the funding of brain tumor research, the ABTA empowers talented researchers to pursue challenging questions in neuro-oncology,” says Ralph DeVitto, ABTA President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are proud to continue our legacy of funding critical brain tumor research and bringing hope to patients.”   

This year’s grants support research across key areas of brain tumor science, including biomarkers, genetics, new treatments, immunotherapy, and tumor spread in both adult and child brain tumors. Learn more about current ABTA grant recipients. 

We warmly welcome this year’s new grant recipients:   

Research Collaboration Grants are two-year, $200,000 grants awarded for multi-investigator multidisciplinary brain tumor collaborative research projects. Grant awardees include:   

• Jacques Lux, PhD–University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, with Co-PI Wen Jiang, MD, PhD–University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center  

• Pavithra Viswanath, PhD–University of California, San Francisco, with Co-PI, Peng Zhang, PhD–Northwestern University  

Basic Research Fellowships are two-year, $100,000 mentored grants awarded to post-doctoral fellows to retain talented researchers in the neuro-oncology field. Fellowship awardees include:   

• Adam Grippin, MD, PhD–University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center   

• Mark Youngblood, MD, PhD–Northwestern University   

Discovery Grants are one-year, $50,000 grants supporting innovative, bold, high-impact approaches with the potential to transform current diagnostic or treatment standards of care. Grant awardees include:   

• Toshiro Hara, PhD–University of Michigan   

• Tanner Johanns, MD, PhD–Washington University in St. Louis   

• Julie Miller, MD, PhD–Massachusetts General Hospital  

• Chrystian Junqueira Alves, PhD–Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai   

• Gilbert Rahme, PhD–State University of New York at Stony Brook  

• David Raleigh, MD, PhD–University of California, San Francisco   

• Artak Tovmasyan, PhD–Dignity Health/St. Joseph’s Hospital & Medical Center   

• Dionysios Watson, MD, PhD–Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center/University of Miami   

• Peng Zhang, PhD–Northwestern University   

Medical Student Summer Fellowships are three-month, $3,000 grants awarded to medical students to conduct brain tumor research projects under the mentorship of neuro-oncology experts. Fellows include:   

• Lucy Chen, AB–Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine  

• Harrsha Congivaram, BS–Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine  

• Karenna Groff, MEng–New York University Grossman School of Medicine  

• Joseph Inger, BS–Brown University  

• Jill Jones, BS–Boston Children’s Hospital   

• Seth Meade, BSE–Cleveland Clinic  

• Jonathon Mitchell, BS–Miller School of Medicine of the University of Miami   

• Megan Parker, BS–Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine  

• Jorge Salcedo, AB, AB–University of California, Los Angeles   

• Ethan Schonfeld, MS–Stanford University   

• Suchet Taori, BA–University of Pittsburgh