Ackerman receives innovation in neuroscience award
Neuroscientist poised to study how glia-neuron interactions affect healthy brain aging
Sarah Ackerman, PhD, an assistant professor of pathology & immunology at WashU Medicine, has been named a winner of the Maximizing Innovation in Neuroscience Discovery (MIND) Prize.
Sarah Ackerman, PhD, an assistant professor of pathology & immunology at WashU Medicine, has been named a winner of the Maximizing Innovation in Neuroscience Discovery (MIND) Prize by the Pershing Square Foundation. She is one of eight new fellows – all early- to mid-career scientists in the U.S. – who will receive $250,000 annually for three years, creating a community of next-frontier thinkers who can uncover a deeper understanding of the brain and cognition.
Ackerman, who is also affiliated with the WashU Medicine Brain Immunology and Glia Center, uses zebrafish, fruit flies and human brain samples to study how the brain’s support cells, called glial cells, wire the brain. With the funding from the Pershing Square Foundation, Ackerman aims to understand if swapping of energy-producing mitochondria between glial cells and neurons — a process thought to play a role in cellular repair and survival — is required for healthy brain aging. Using advanced imaging and genetic tools, her lab will track how this process changes with age and in Alzheimer’s disease, potentially helping to reveal a new pathway to restore neuronal function and slow neurodegeneration.
The Pershing Square Foundation is a family foundation established in 2006 to support exceptional leaders and innovative organizations that tackle important issues and deliver scalable and sustainable global impact. It has committed more than $930 million in grants and social investments in target areas including health and medicine, education, economic development, environment and innovation.
