Announcing the 2018 Discovery Science Award Grantees!
Dr. Maria Lehtinen, Boston Children’s Hospital; Dr. David Limbrick, Washington University in St. Louis; and Dr. Yun Yung, Scintillon Institute; have been named recipients of the Hydrocephalus Association 2018 Discovery Science Awards. The award allows these scientists to expand their research on posthemorrhagic hydrocephalus (PHH).
HA’s Discovery Science Awards provide sustained support for high-quality, innovative, and timely research projects. The goals are to expand the scope of promising research studies, increase a lab’s focus on hydrocephalus, and involve junior investigators in conducting the research through a substantial multiyear commitment.
Dr. Lehtinen’s research will determine how blood changes the makeup of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) after a brain bleed and how these changes affect brain development. Her work will also test how drugs currently given to preterm infants change the choroid plexus’ response to blood and if these changes lead to better brain development.
Dr. Limbrick, a principal investigator for the HA-funded Hydrocephalus Clinical Research Network, will explore how blood damages the cells that line the ventricles and test if a specific drug can stop this damage and prevent hydrocephalus. In 2017, Dr. Limbrick received HA’s Innovator Award for Posthemorrhagic Hydrocephalus.
Dr. Yung will investigate how lipids (fats) present in blood interact with other factors in blood, such as iron, to cause hydrocephalus after a brain bleed. The study will also focus on getting drugs into the brain through non-invasive techniques. In 2011, Dr. Yung received HA’s Mentored Young Investigator Award.
Each awardee will receive $300,000 over a three-year period.
These projects were supported through HA’s PHH Campaign and with funding from Team Hydro.
Read the 2015-2017 Research Report to learn more about HA’s Research Programs.
To learn about how a brain bleed leads to the development of PHH, view our video below:
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQy7cj2tXq4[/embedyt]