Pew Funds 8 Teams to Conduct Collaborative Biomedical Research

PHILADELPHIA—The Pew Charitable Trusts announced today the eight pairs of researchers who will make up its 2024 class of Innovation Fund investigators.

These 16 acclaimed scientists—all alumni of Pew’s biomedical programs in the United States and Latin America—will collaborate on interdisciplinary research projects that explore foundational questions about human biology and disease. By combining their expertise in topic areas ranging from cell biology and immunology to neuroscience and genetics, these partnerships will help to advance scientific discovery and improve human health.

“Now more than ever, interdisciplinary approaches are key to solving the world’s most pressing scientific challenges,” said Donna Frisby-Greenwood, Pew’s senior vice president for Philadelphia and scientific advancement. “Through their innovative research projects, these exceptional investigators are drawing on their different areas of scientific inquiry to advance biomedical research, and Pew is proud to support them.”

For nearly 40 years, Pew has encouraged collaboration among its diverse community of biomedical scientists, leading to the 2017 launch of the Innovation Fund. The award, which is supported by the Kathryn W. Davis Peace by Pieces Fund, was developed to support creative and cross-disciplinary partnerships among alumni of Pew’s three biomedical programs, with those holding assistant professor positions or higher eligible to apply. The project is also made possible in part this year by a grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Foundation.

This year’s Innovation Fund teams and research projects are:

• Maria Barna, Ph.D., 2014 Pew biomedical scholar; Stanford University
• Christine M. Dunham, Ph.D., 2011 Pew biomedical scholar; Emory University

Barna and Dunham will examine how small molecules called ribosomes increase global protein synthesis, a largely unknown mechanism with the power to alleviate the effects of human disease.

• Ilana L. Brito, Ph.D., 2018 Pew biomedical scholar; Cornell University
• Gabriel Victora, Ph.D., 2019 Pew-Stewart scholar; The Rockefeller University

Brito and Victora will explore the interactions between gut microbiota and intestinal immune cells by way of germinal centers—structures where specialized immune cells undergo selection and maturation to produce antibodies.

• Daiana A. Capdevila, Ph.D., 2016 Pew Latin American fellow; Fundación Instituto Leloir
• Ana S. Peinetti, Ph.D., 2017 Pew Latin American fellow; Instituto de Química Física de los Materiales, Medio Ambiente y Energía (CONICET-Universidad de Buenos Aires)

Capdevila and Peinetti will develop a low-cost, in vitro transcription-based diagnostic platform to detect the presence of viral antigens in serum samples of people infected with insect-borne arboviruses.

• Kimberly L. Cooper, Ph.D., 2015 Pew biomedical scholar; University of California, San Diego
• Elizabeth Villa, Ph.D., 2017 Pew biomedical scholar; University of California, San Diego

Cooper and Villa aim to resolve how chondrocytes—specialized cells at the ends of bones—function during bone growth.

• K. Christopher Garcia, Ph.D., 2001 Pew biomedical scholar; Stanford University
• Jesse D. Bloom, Ph.D., 2015 Pew biomedical scholar; Fred Hutch Cancer Center

Garcia and Bloom will explore and exploit protein-protein recognition critical for adaptive immunity, using a novel co-evolution platform to better understand protein binding and engineer antibodies that can better respond to rapidly mutating viruses.

• Jonathon Howard, Ph.D., 1990 Pew biomedical scholar; Yale University
• Tomás L. Falzone, Ph.D., 2002 Pew Latin American fellow; IBioBA-MPSP-CONICET; Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Buenos Aires

Howard and Falzone will uncover how the diameters of dendrites and axons support the demands of optimal neuronal function, providing foundational knowledge about the inner workings of the brain and neurodegeneration.

• Michael S. Kuhns, Ph.D., 2011 Pew biomedical scholar; University of Arizona
• Nels C. Elde, Ph.D., 2012 Pew biomedical scholar; University of Utah

Kuhns and Elde will study the functional consequences of interspecies differences in the structure of immunoglobulin domains—protein building blocks that are key for mediating immunity across species.

• Seth Rakoff-Nahoum, M.D., Ph.D., 2018 Pew biomedical scholar; Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School
• Jing-Ke Weng, Ph.D., 2014 Pew biomedical scholar; Northeastern University

Rakoff-Nahoum and Weng seek to redefine the intricate relationship between food and health by using isotopic labeling to precisely trace food molecules’ pathways, modifications, and host interactions.