Funded Research

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Funded Research

2024 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-23-004)

PI NAME	INSTITUTION NAME	TITLE
ALLEN, NICOLA J	SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES	Targeted Degradation of Extracellular Proteins to Enhance Brain Plasticity
CHEN, HONG	WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY	Ultrasound-induced artificial hibernation: Mimicking natural hibernation to enhance human health
GITAI, ZEMER	PRINCETON UNIVERSITY	A single-cell approach to developing non-traditional antibiotics
KEPECS, ADAM	WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY	The cytokine code and neural circuits for sensing inflammation state
LI, NUO	DUKE UNIVERSITY	Neural control of rhythmic orofacial movements
MANGIA, SILVIA	UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA	Obtaining brain pCO2, pH and pO2 maps via measurements of neurovascular coupling: a novel non-invasive approach to identify the culprits of loss of brain function
MONTELL, DENISE J	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA	RaceCAR-M immunotherapy for cancer and beyond
PALLER, KEN A	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	Micromanaging Human Sleep Physiology to Treat Sleep Apnea and Other Disorders

2023 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-22-018)

PI NAME	INSTITUTION NAME	TITLE
FORDYCE, POLLY MORRELL	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Using microfluidics to realize patient-specific anti-cancer immunotherapies
GREENLEAF, WILLIAM JAMES	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Combinatorial Cell State Engineering
HOLFORD, MANDE N	HUNTER COLLEGE	Charting the evolutionary development of novel genes and the molecular mechanisms of gland tissue organization in cephalopods
JOHNSON, KEVIN B	UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA	Helping Doctors Doctor: Using AI to Automate Documentation and "De-Autonomate" Health Care
QI, LEI STANLEY	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Manipulating and Interrogating Spatial Transcriptomics
WANG, FAN	MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Unraveling the Neural Bases of Body Schema
WITTEN, ILANA	PRINCETON UNIVERSITY	Individual differences through self-reinforcement of suboptimal strategies
REIS, TANIA	UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER	Food for thought: a virus-like signal for the energetic demands of higher cognitive functions

2022 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-21-015)

PI Name	Institution Name	Title
CAI, LONG	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Single Cell Analysis of the Kinome
DZIRASA, KAFUI	DUKE UNIVERSITY	Precision Editing of Neural Circuits Using Engineered Electrical Synapses
KRISHNAN, YAMUNA	UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO	Intracellular Electrophysiology: An Electrochemical Atlas of Organelles
KWONG, GABRIEL A	GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Finding Sleeping Beauty: T Cell Biosensors for Dormant Cancer Detection
NELSON, CELESTE M	PRINCETON UNIVERSITY	Mechanical Clocks During Fetal Development
RANDLES, AMANDA E	DUKE UNIVERSITY	Dynamic Models of the Cardiovascular System Capturing Years, Rather Than Heartbeats
ROSE, SHERRI	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	A Framework for the Social Impact of Algorithms in Health Care
SAWYER, SARA	UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO	Breaking the Barrier to an HIV Vaccine

2021 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-20-011)

PI Name	Institution Name	Title
ANIKEEVA, POLINA O	MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Fusion of Nanomagnetic and Viral Tools to Interrogate Brain-Body Circuits
CLARK, PATRICIA LOUISE	UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME	Decoding the Regulation of Protein Folding by Synonymous Codon Usage
COSTA, RUI M	COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES	Brain Control of Internal Organ Function
GACK, MICHAELA ULRIKE	CLEVELAND CLINIC LERNER COM-CWRU	Defining the Viral PTMome: Towards the Development of Novel Antiviral Approaches
HIGLEY, MICHAEL JAMES	YALE UNIVERSITY	Bridging Cellular and Systems Neuroscience: Synaptic Dynamics Underlying Behavior
HUANG, Z JOSH	DUKE UNIVERSITY	RNA-Programmable Cell-Type Targeting, Editing, and Therapy
MURPHY, COLEEN TARA	PRINCETON UNIVERSITY	Cracking the Code of Transgenerational Inheritance of Behavior
PHILLIPS-CREMINS, JENNIFER ELIZABETH	UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA	From 3D Genomes to Neural Connectomes: Higher-Order Chromatin Mechanisms Encoding Long-Term Memory
RICHARDS, LINDA J	WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY	Emergence of Activity Patterns in the Cerebral Cortex and Their Influence on Brain Circuit Development and Function
SHAPIRO, MIKHAIL	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Sonogenetic Remote Control of Cellular Function

2020 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-19-005)

PI Name	Institution Name	Title
BARRON, ANNELISE EMILY	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Role of Innate Immune Dysregulation in the Etiology of Dementia
COLLINS, KATHLEEN	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY	Human Genetic Supplementation Without Donor DNA or a DNA Break
HARVEY, CHRISTOPHER D	HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL	Toward Mechanistic Cognitive Neuroscience: Cell Types, Connectivity, and Patterned Perturbations
KIM, PETER S	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Creating High-Resolution, Epitope-Focused Vaccines
LITT, BRIAN	UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA	Ghost in the Machine: Melding Brain, Computer and Behavior
QIAN, SHU-BING	CORNELL UNIVERSITY	A Genetic Circuit Formed by Ribosomes
ROSENBERG, SUSAN M	BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE	Harnessing Proteins as Drugs: the Protectome of Cancer- and Aging-Prevention Proteins
SCHOGGINS, JOHN W	UT SOUTHWESTERN MEDICAL CENTER	A Functional Evolutionary Genetic Approach to Combat Viral Infection
VEESLER, DAVID	UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON	Unraveling the Bat Humoral Immune Response Against Zoonotic Viruses to Guide the Design of Next-Generation Therapeutics
ZERNICKA-GOETZ, MAGDALENA	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Placental Models to Support Embryogenesis In Vitro

2019 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-18-007)

PI Name	Institution Name	Title
ANDERMANN, MARK L	BETH ISRAEL DEACONESS MEDICAL CENTER	Look Inward: Brainstem and Cortical Circuits for Boosting Interoceptive Attention
EBERWINE, JAMES H	UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA	The Secret Lives of RNA: The In Vivo 3D-Structural Logic of Single Neuron RNA Metabolism
ELISSEEFF, JENNIFER H	JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY	Biomaterials-Directed Regenerative Immunotherapies
GRECO, VALENTINA	YALE UNIVERSITY	Defining the Role of Mutational Burden in Sustaining Normal Homeostasis During Aging
HERMAN, CHRISTOPHE	BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE	A Synthetic Platform for Non-Antibiotic Eradication of Bacterial Infections
HUR, SUN	BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL	Resolving Functional Aggregates: A New Perspective on Innate Immune Control
KNIGHT, ROB	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO	Mapping Host-Microbe-Metabolite Interactions in 3D to Find Diet-Derived Enhancers of Immunity
LEE, JIN HYUNG	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	From Optogenetic Functional MRI to Mechanogenetic Functional Ultrasound
PICCIOTTO, MARINA R	YALE UNIVERSITY	Acetylcholine Signaling Allows Cognitive Processes in the Brain to Regulate Physiological Responses to the Environment: The Example of Central Control of Opiate Tolerance
PLOEGH, HIDDE L	BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL	Imposing Order on the Family of Ubiquitin-Conjugating (E2) Enzymes Through Intracellular Perturbation with Nanobodies
SCHEURING, SIMON	WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV	Enabling Physical Stimuli in the Study of Structural Dynamics: The Sensory Ion Channels

2018 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-17-005)

PI Name	Institution Name	Title
AYRES, JANELLE S	SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES	Host-Microbe Interactions: Harnessing Co-Evolution to Treat Disease
COLON-RAMOS, DANIEL A	YALE UNIVERSITY	Powering the Brain: The Cell Biology of Neuroenergetics
CURTIS, CHRISTINA N	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Forecasting Tumor Evolution: Can the Past Reveal the Future?
GRADINARU, VIVIANA	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Circuit-Specific Delivery of Large Cargo Across the Nervous Systems of Adult Mammals and Embryos Via Novel Engineered Systemic Vectors
KIPNIS, JONATHAN	UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA	Neural Code of the Immune Responses
KWON, HYUNGBAE	MAX PLANCK FLORIDA CORPORATION	Cracking the Neuromodulation Code at Single Cell Resolution
MONJE-DEISSEROTH, MICHELLE	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Glioma Circuitry: Bridging Systems Neuroscience and Cancer
VICTORA, GABRIEL D	ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY	Quantifying Cell-Cell Interactions in the Immune System by Trans-Synaptic Labeling
WAGERS, AMY JO	HARVARD UNIVERSITY	Uncovering Molecular Effectors of Mammalian Aging
YIN, PENG	HARVARD UNIVERSITY	High-Throughput Single-Molecule Protein Identification Via Super-Resolution Imaging

2017 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-16-005)

PI Name	Institution Name	Title
DAI, HONGJIE	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Human Infrared Vision at Molecular and Cellular Scale
ETKIN, AMIT	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	A “Circuits-First” Platform for Personalized Neurostimulation Treatment
FINE, HOWARD A	WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV	Human Brain Cancer, Rather than Brain Cancer Cells, on a Plate
LIEBER, CHARLES M	HARVARD UNIVERSITY	Syringe-Injectable Mesh Electronics for Seamless Integration with the Central Nervous System
MACKLIS, JEFFREY D	HARVARD UNIVERSITY	Subcellular RNA-Proteome Mapping in Subtype- and Circuit-Specific Growth Cones: Development, Cell Biology, Disease, and Regeneration
MARRAFFINI, LUCIANO A	ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY	Generation of Immunological Memory by CRISPR-Cas Systems
SCHIER, ALEXANDER F	HARVARD UNIVERSITY	DNA-Mediated Recording of Cellular History
SHIEKHATTAR, RAMIN	UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE	Enhancer RNA Therapy
SINCLAIR, DAVID A	HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL	Uncovering the Human Secretome
SONNENBURG, JUSTIN	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Defining and Reconstructing the Human Ancestral Microbiome
TYE, KAY MAXINE	MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Neural Circuit Mechanisms of Social Homeostasis in Individuals and Supraorganismal Social Groups
ZHANG, FENG	BROAD INSTITUTE, INC.	Exploration of Diverse Mobile Genetic Elements for Precision Genome Manipulation

2016 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-13-006)

PI Name	Institution Name	Title
BALDWIN, KRISTIN KAY	SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE	Defining a Transcriptional Periodic Table of the Human Brain Using Reprogramming
BERNSTEIN, BRADLEY EVAN	MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL	Epigenetic Plasticity in Tumor Initiation and Evolution
FISCHBACH, MICHAEL ANDREW	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO	A Complete Map of the Top 100 Molecules from the Gut Microbiome
HASSON, URI	PRINCETON UNIVERSITY	Speaker-Listener Coupling: A Novel Neural Approach for Assessing Communication
IZPISUA BELMONTE, JUAN CARLOS	SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES	Generation of Functional Human Organs and Tissues Using Interspecific Blastocyst Complementation
KANWISHER, NANCY	MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	How Does the Functional Organization of the Human Brain Arise in Development?
LIBERLES, STEPHEN DANIEL	HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL	Sensory Receptors of the Vagus Nerve
MAYR, CHRISTINE	SLOAN-KETTERING INST CAN RESEARCH	3'UTR-Mediated Protein-Protein Interactions Determine Protein Functions
RABINOWITZ, JOSHUA D	PRINCETON UNIVERSITY	Metabolism in Action: Quantitative Fluxes in Mammals
WANG, MENG CARLA	BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE	Decode the Chemical Language that Orchestrates Cellular and Organismal Homeostasis
WAY, SING SING	CINCINNATI CHILDRENS HOSP MED CTR	Immunological Identity Redefined by Genetically Foreign Microchimeric Cells
YUN, SEOK-HYUN ANDY	MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL	Massive Wavelength-Division Multiplexing and Imaging with Laser Particles

2015 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-13-006)

PI Name	Institution Name	Title
BOSCO, GIOVANNI	DARTMOUTH COLLEGE	Trans-Generational Effects of Social Learning?
COX, JEFFERY S	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO	Host-Directed Strategies to Create Synergistic Antibacterial Therapies
DISNEY, MATTHEW D	SCRIPPS FLORIDA	Using a Disease-Affected Cell to Synthesize Its Own Drug
GITAI, ZEMER	PRINCETON UNIVERSITY	Mechano-Microbiology: How Physical Forces Control Bacterial-Host Interactions
HOWARD, JONATHON	YALE UNIVERSITY	Cell Biological Limitations Constrain Dendritic Branching Morphology and Neuronal Function
MONTELL, CRAIG	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA	Creation of a New Generation of Transgenic Mosquitoes to Control Infectious Disease
MURPHY, COLEEN TARA	PRINCETON UNIVERSITY	Toward the Tissue-ome: A Map of the C. elegans Cell-specific Transcriptome
RANDOLPH, GWENDALYN J	WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY	Integrating Cell & Lipoprotein Trafficking with Vascular Biology in Human IBD
SCHIFF, STEVEN J	PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY	Control of the Neonatal Septisome and Hydrocephalus in Sub-Saharan Africa
WU, HAO	CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL CORPORATION	SMOCs: Novel Signal Transduction Complexes as New Targets for Drug Discovery
WYSS-CORAY, TONY	PALO ALTO VETERANS INSTIT FOR RESEARCH	A Bioorthogonal Approach to Study Mammalian Aging
YASUDA, RYOHEI	MAX PLANCK FLORIDA CORPORATION	Deciphering Biochemical Networks in Single Dendritic Spines
ZHONG, SHENG	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO	Mapping RNA interactomes by Sequencing

2014 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-13-006)

PI Name	Institution Name	Title
AMBATI, JAYAKRISHNA	UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY	Form and Function of Our Janus Faced Genome
GU, CHENGHUA	HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL	New Tools for Understanding the Blood Brain Barrier
LAURENCIN, CATO T, MD, PHD	UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT HEALTH CENTER	Regenerative Engineering of Complex Musculoskeletal Tissues and Joints
MONTELL, DENISE J	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA	Anastasis, a New Mechanism Driving Cell Survival and Evolution
NOVINA, CARL D	DANA-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE	Engineering Epigenetic Therapy for Sickle Cell Disease
PALMER, AMY E	UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO	Regulation of Cell Signaling by Transition Metal Dynamics
PE'ER, DANA	COLUMBIA UNIV NEW YORK MORNINGSIDE	Single Cell Mapping of Developmental Trajectories Underlying Health and Disease
RANDO, OLIVER J	UNIV OF MASSACHUSETTS MED SCH WORCESTER	tRNA Fragments as Transgenerational Information Carriers
SPIEGELMAN, DONNA L	HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH	Comprehensive Translational Science Analytics Tools for the Global Health Agenda
WU, SEAN M	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Enabling Technologies for Human-Machine Hybrid Tissues

2013 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-12-015)

PI Name	Institution Name	Title
ARNSTEN, AMY F T	YALE UNIVERSITY	Highly Evolved Brain Circuits in Primates: Molecular Vulnerabilities for Disease
BOYDEN, EDWARD S	MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Millisecond-Timescale Whole-Brain Neural Activity Mapping in Health and Disease
GLADYSHEV, VADIM N	BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL	Mechanisms of Lifespan Control
KHAKH, BALJIT	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES	Astrocyte Branchlet Dysfunction as an Early Step in Brain Disorders
LIN, MICHAEL Z	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Optogenetics for All: A General Method for Optical Control of Protein Activity
SHENDURE, JAY ASHOK	UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON	Interpreting Genetic Variants of Uncertain Significance
TRAYANOVA, NATALIA A	JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY	Virtual Electrophysiology Laboratory
WANG, FAN	DUKE UNIVERSITY	Toward Causal Neuroscience: Capture and Manipulate Emergent Neuronal Ensembles
WEINBERGER, LEOR S	J. DAVID GLADSTONE INSTITUTES	Evolvable Resistance-Proof Therapies
XIE, XIAOLIANG SUNNEY	HARVARD UNIVERSITY	Probing Dynamics of the Human Genome by Single Cell Sequencing
YUSTE, RAFAEL M	COLUMBIA UNIV NEW YORK MORNINGSIDE	Functional Connectomics of the Neocortical Microcircuit
ZYLKA, MARK J	UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL	The Elongation Hypothesis of Autism

2012 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-11-004)

PI Name	Institution Name	Title
BRUNET, ANNE	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Transgenerational Epigenetic Inheritance of Longevity
MARCOTTE, EDWARD M	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AUSTIN	Next-Generation Proteomics: Massively Parallel Single-Molecule Protein Identification & Quantification
PLOEGH, HIDDE L	WHITEHEAD INSTITUTE FOR BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH	A New Strategy to Disrupt Protein-Protein Interactions in Eukaryotic Cells
SMOLKE, CHRISTINA D	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Synthetic Biology Platforms for Natural Product Discovery and Biosynthesis
TANG, YI	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES	Rediscovering Natural Chemical Diversity
TSAO, DORIS YING	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Understanding the Circuit for Topological Object Tracking
WANG, LIHONG	WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS	Photon Tunneling: Shedding New Light on Biomedicine
WU, CHAO-TING	HARVARD UNIVERSITY	The Inheritance of Position: It's Not Just Who You Are, It's Where You Are
YELLEN, GARY I	HARVARD UNIVERSITY	Single Cell Analysis of Metabolism Using Genetically-Encoded Fluorescent Sensors
ZHANG, FENG	BROAD INSTITUTE, INC.	Probing Neuropsychiatric Diseases Using Targeted Epigenome and Genome Engineering

2011 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-10-008)

PI Name	Institution Name	Title
BANERJEE, UTPAL	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES	Developmental Control of Metabolism
BASS, BRENDA L	UNIVERSITY OF UTAH	Cellular Double-Stranded RNA as a Signal of Stress, Immunity, and Aging
BENNETT, JEAN	UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA	Broad Spectrum Molecular Therapy for Blinding Retina Disorders
CLEMONS, WILLIAM M	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	NIH Pioneer Award
ENGERT, FLORIAN	HARVARD UNIVERSITY	Watching a Vertebrate Brain Learn and Behave in a Virtual Environment
FEINBERG, ANDREW P	JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY	A General Stochastic Epigenetic Model for Evolution, Development, and Disease
HILDRETH, JAMES E K	MEHARRY MEDICAL COLLEGE	Role of Natural Pseudotyping with Other Viruses in HIV Transmission
PAN, TAO	UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO	Mis-Translation as a New Mechanism of Stress Response in Biology
RAMANATHAN, SHARAD	HARVARD UNIVERSITY	A Road Map to the Neocortex
SCHNEIDER, DAVID S	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Mapping the Road to Recovery - Does the Way We Get Better Differ from the Way We Get Sick?
SIAPAS, ATHANASSIOS G	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Nanoprobe Arrays for Massively Parallel 3-D Recordings of Brain Activity
TOLIAS, ANDREAS SAVAS	BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE	Dissecting the Fabric of the Cerebral Cortex
YANIK, MEHMET FATIH	MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Generating Transplantable Neurons by In Vivo Combinatorial Screening of Transcription Regulator RNAs

2010 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-09-010)

PI Name	Institution Name	Title
BARBAS, CARLOS F	SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE	Chemically Programmed Immunity
BJORKMAN, PAMELA J	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Thwarting HIV Evasion of Antibody Avidity with Novel Antibody Architectures
DRAGOI, VALENTIN	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON	Examining Population Coding Underlying Complex Behavior in Freely Moving Primates
FESIK, STEPHEN W	VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER	Expanding the Druggable Genome
HORVATH, TAMAS L	YALE UNIVERSITY	Hypothalamic AgRP Neurons Are Determinants of Healthy Lifespan and Higher Brain Functions
JOUNG, J KEITH	MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL	Advancing Stem Cell Technologies Using Engineered Zinc Finger Proteins
KLEINFELD, DAVID	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO	Defining the Logic of Neurovascular Signaling in the Brain
LIN, HAIFAN	YALE UNIVERSITY	Toward a Central Question in Epigenetics: A Major Epigenetic Programming Mechanism Guided by piRNAs
LIU, JUN O	JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY	Generation and Proteome-Wide Screening of Hybrid Combinatorial Libraries
MARICQ, ANDRES VILLU	UNIVERSITY OF UTAH	Simultaneous In Vivo Studies of Synapses, Neurons, and Learning and Memory
NADEAU, JOSEPH H	CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY	Lamarck Redux: Transgenerational Genetic Effects on Phenotypes and Disease
NICOLELIS, MIGUEL A L	DUKE UNIVERSITY	A Virtual Reality Simulator to Study VLSBA and Test Brain-Actuating Technologies
RAMAKRISHNAN, LALITA	UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON	Linking the Behavior of Individual Host Cells to Their Transcriptional Signatures
ROLE, LORNA W	THE RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF SUNY	Unveiling the Role and Taking Control of Cholinergic Tone in Circuits of Attention, Memory and Fear
ROUKES, MICHAEL L	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Nanoscale Tools to Push Biomedical Frontiers
SAMUDRALA, RAM	UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON	Novel Paradigms for Drug Discovery: Computational Multitarget Screening
YANKNER, BRUCE A	PRESIDENT AND FELLOWS OF HARVARD COLLEGE	Modeling the Aging Epigenome

2009 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-09-001)

PI Name	Institution Name	Title
BENJAMIN, IVOR J	UNIVERSITY OF UTAH	Protein Misfolding Diseases and Oxido-Reductive Pathways
CHAWLA, AJAY	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Immune Triggers of Tissue Regeneration
CHEN, CHANG-ZHENG	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	The Role of Pre-miRNA Loop in Target Regulation by microRNA Genes
CHEROUTRE, HILDE MC	LA JOLLA INST FOR ALLERGY & IMMUNOLGY	Uncovering the Missing Link that Determines Susceptibility to Autoimmunity
COVERT, MARKUS W	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	A Gene-Complete Computational Model of Yeast
DESIMONE, JOSEPH M	UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL	Delivery of Biological Therapeutics: Using Engineered Particles and Novel Delivery Methods to Address Unmet Needs
EVANS, SYLVIA M	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO	Approaches to Cardiac Regeneration
FETCHO, JOSEPH R	CORNELL UNIVERSITY	Global Changes in Synaptic Strength and Excitability During Sleep and Wakefulness
HOLY, TIMOTHY	WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY	Watching Action Potentials in Intact Neuronal Circuits
REYA, TANNISHTHA	DUKE UNIVERSITY	Imaging Self-Renewal and Transformation in Hematopoietic Stem Cells
ROBINSON, GENE E	UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN	Johnny Bee Good: Bees as Models to Study the Hijacking of the Reward System
ROSENBERG, SUSAN M	BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE	Forward Genomics of Damage Control: An Undiscovered Class of Cancer Genes
SAMSON, LEONA D	MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Developing Novel Methods to Measure DNA Repair Capacity in Human Populations
SHAH, NIRAO MAHESH	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO	Dissecting the Neural Control of Social Attachment
SHENOY, KRISHNA V	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Toward an Animal Model of Freely Moving Human
TISHKOFF, SARAH ANNE	UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA	African Odyssey: An Integrative Genomics Analysis of Complex Physiologic Traits
TRAVIS, ALEXANDER J	CORNELL UNIVERSITY	Nanoscale Energy Production for Implantable Medical Devices
ZHANG, JIN	JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY	Creating a Genetically Encodable Nano-Compass to Navigate in Molecular Networks

2008 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-08-013)

PI Name	Institution Name	Title
CHEN, JAMES K	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Chemical Embryology: Technologies for Manipulating and Visualizing Development
DOLMETSCH, RICARDO E	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Using Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells to Identify Cellular Phenotypes of Autism
EBERWINE, JAMES H	UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA	Cellular Logic of Phenotype
EPSTEIN, JOSHUA M	BROOKINGS INSTITUTION	Behavioral Epidemiology: Applications of Agent-Based Modeling to Infectious Disease
HAY, BRUCE A	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Engineering the Genetics of Wild Mosquito Populations to Fight Infectious Disease
HOCHSCHILD, ANN	HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL	A New Genetic Approach for Studying Prions and Other Pathogenic Protein Aggregate
LIEBER, CHARLES M	HARVARD UNIVERSITY	Nanowire Nanoelectronic/Cell Assemblies as Hybrid Functional Biomaterials
LONDON, BARRY	UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH	In-Vivo Electrophysiology Imaging
MANIATIS, THOMAS P	HARVARD UNIVERSITY	Use of Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells to Study Mechanisms of Familial and Sporadic ALS
ODOM, TERI WANG	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	Reconstructing Sub-cellular Structure Using Plasmonic Metamaterials
PARK, HONGKUN	HARVARD UNIVERSITY	Nano- and Microelectronic Tools for Interrogating Neuronal Circuits and Networks
REGEV, AVIV	MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY \| BROAD INSTITUTE, INC.	The Temporal Reconfiguration of Regulatory Networks: From Yeast to Cancer
SAMUEL, ARAVINTHAN D	HARVARD UNIVERSITY	Biophysical Approaches to Complex Navigational Behaviors in Larval Drosophila melanogaster
TAVAZOIE, SAEED F	PRINCETON UNIVERSITY	Towards a Cognitive Framework for Understanding Cellular Behavior
TING, ALICE Y	MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Enabling the Study of Endogenous Proteins in Live Cells
VAN OUDENAARDEN, ALEXANDER	MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Stochastic Gene Expression in Differentiation and Development

2007 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-07-005)

PI Name	Institution Name	Title
BARRETT, LISA FELDMAN	BOSTON COLLEGE	Emotions Are Emergent Events Constrained by Affective and Conceptual Processes
BEARMAN, PETER SHAWN	COLUMBIA UNIV NEW YORK MORNINGSIDE	Social Determinants of the Autism Epidemic
BROWN, EMERY N	MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL	A Systems Neuroscience Approach for the Study of General Anesthesia
CLANDININ, THOMAS ROBERT	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Dissecting the Functional Anatomy of the Visual System: A New Way Forward
COLLINS, JAMES J	BOSTON UNIVERSITY (CHARLES RIVER CAMPUS)	A Network Biology Approach to Antibiotic Action and Bacterial Defense Mechanisms
GARDEL, MARGARET LISE	UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO	2007 NIH Directors Pioneer Award Program (DP1)
HENSCH, TAKAO K	CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL CORPORATION	Dissecting Non-Coding RNA Function in Critical Period Brain Development/ Disorder
HORWITZ, MARSHALL S	UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON	NIH Directors Pioneer Award
ISMAGILOV, RUSTEM F	UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO	2007 NIH Directors Pioneer Award Program (DP1)
JENSEN, FRANCES E	CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL CORPORATION	Understanding the Cognitive Impact of Early Life Epilepsy
SCHNITZER, MARK J	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Massively Parallel Brain Imaging
TURRIGIANO, GINA G	BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY	Probing the Structure of the Synapse Using Superresolution Light Microscopy

2006 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-06-005)

PI Name	Institution Name	Title
BOAHEN, KWABENA	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Neurogrid: Emulating a Million Neurons in the Cortex
CHAKRABORTY, ARUP K	MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Developing the Principles Governing T Lymphocyte-Mediated Autoimmunity Using an Approach at an Intersection of the Physical and Life Sciences
GIERASCH, LILA M	UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST	NIH Director's Pioneer Award Application
HEALD, REBECCA W	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BERKELEY	NIH Director's Pioneer Award Application
KIRKEGAARD, KARLA A	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	Dominant Drug Targets in RNA Viruses
KODADEK, THOMAS	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SW MED CTR/DALLAS	Novel Chemistry to Monitor and Manipulate the Immune System
LEE, CHENG C	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HLTH SCI CTR HOUSTON	Reversible Suspended Animation of Non-hibernating Mammals
NUDLER, EVGENY	NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE	New Approaches to Fight Infection
PIELAK, GARY J	UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL	In-Cell NMR of Disease-Related Proteins
RELMAN, DAVID A	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	NIH Director's Pioneer Award Application
SEGAL, ROSALIND A	DANA-FARBER CANCER INSTITUTE	An Extended View of Self: Human Indigenous Microbial Communities in Health and Disease
SHERLEY, JAMES L	MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	Pioneering Human Adult Stem Cell Discovery and Cellular Medicine
XIA, YOUNAN	UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON	Put Nanostructures to Work for Reading and Controlling Cell Behavior

2005 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (NOT-OD-05-021)

PI Name	Institution Name	Title
CHANDLER, VICKI L	UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
CLINE, HOLLIS T	COLD SPRING HARBOR LABORATORY	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
COSMIDES, LEDA	UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
DE LANGE, TITIA	ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
DEISSEROTH, KARL A	STANFORD UNIVERSITY	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
HARBURY, PEHR A	STANFORD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
JARVIS, ERICH D	DUKE UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
RANDO, THOMAS A	STANFORD UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
SMITH, DEREK J	UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
TONONI, GIULIO	UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN - MADISON MEDICAL SCHOOL	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
WATERMAN-STORER, CLARE M	SCRIPPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
WOLFE, NATHAN	JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
YUAN, JUNYING	HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL	NIH Director's Pioneer Award

2004 NIH Director's Pioneer Award (DP1) (RFA-RM-04-500)

PI Name	Institution Name	Title
ABBOTT, LARRY F	BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
DALEY, GEORGE Q	CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL (BOSTON)	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
HELLINGA, HOMME W	DUKE UNIVERSITY	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
MCCUNE, JOSEPH M	J. DAVID GLADSTONE INSTITUTES	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
MCKNIGHT, STEVEN L	UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SW MED CTR/DALLAS	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
MIRKIN, CHAD A	NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
PHILLIPS, ROB	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
QUAKE, STEPHEN R	CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY	NIH Director's Pioneer Award
XIE, SUNNEY	HARVARD UNIVERSITY	NIH Director's Pioneer Award

This page last reviewed on July 10, 2025

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