Office of Medical Communications

Kathryn Morelli, Ph.D. (left), points out neurons and their axon projections on an image of a brain organoid with graduate assistant Abby Kirch, cellular, molecular, and biomedical sciences doctoral candidate.

Grants Advance Pioneering Research

Two projects led by early-career investigators at the University of Vermont were selected recently to receive $180,000 each over a two-year period to investigate brain diseases and treatments for dementia. The pilot grants are provided by the Vermont Center for Cardiovascular and Brain Health (VCCBH), a Phase 1 National Institutes of Health–funded Center of Biomedical Research Excellence that focuses on elevating exceptional early-career faculty.

The pilot grants, called Fostering Innovative Research Excellence (FIRE grants), support individuals or pairs of researchers with complementary backgrounds working together on interdisciplinary projects. FIRE grant recipients are assistant professors or faculty scientists who have received no prior R01 or equivalent funding. While supporting their investigations of significant health problems, the grants aim to advance the researchers’ skills in study design, epidemiology, translational research, and using pioneering technologies.

VCCBH selected Kathryn Morelli, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurological sciences, Masayo Koide, Ph.D., M.S., research assistant professor of pharmacology, and James Stafford, Ph.D., assistant professor of neurological sciences, to receive funding through 2026 for their investigations to understand, prevent, and treat brain diseases.

Morelli studies RNA protein interactions in the brain using advanced RNA-targeting therapies, genomic sequencing, and brain organoids, which are three-dimensional (3D) multi-cellular tissues derived from stem cells and designed to mimic the human brain. Morelli’s research seeks to understand how RNA metabolism influences cellular function in neurodegenerative disorders.

Koide’s research investigates the role of cerebral small vessel function in response to phenomenon including blood pressure autoregulation and functional hyperemia, a process that increases blood flow to specific regions of the brain in response to neural activity, a key aspect of consciousness and cognition.

Stafford’s investigations focus on how changes in gene expression in the brain contribute to neurological and psychiatric disease, with an emphasis on finding interventions to prevent or reverse the epigenetic roots of disease.

Morelli’s FIRE grant project aims to develop new treatments for frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a rare, progressive brain disease in the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain. This debilitating condition affects behavior, language, and cognitive functions. It is one of the most common dementias to strike younger people, with symptoms starting between ages 40–65. Morelli’s team uses organoids made from patients’ stem cells to mimic and observe the brain to test a new therapy that targets harmful RNA molecules, with a goal to halt FTD progression.

The FIRE grant–funded collaboration by Koide and Stafford (pictured, left to right)  investigates cerebral blood vessel disease, the most common type of dementia—more than 80 percent of people with dementia have issues related to the brain's blood supply. Koide and Stafford are examining blood vessel dysfunction in deep brain regions, which leads to brain cell damage and cognitive impairment. They hope to identify vascular alterations that may serve as early indicators of dementia and lead to earlier treatments to reduce cognitive decline.

Now in its fifth year of operation, the VCCBH supports early-career researchers on their ascent to independence, securing their own NIH funding to operate labs and hire scientific personnel. With support from VCCBH mentors, the researchers’ work has been published in major journals, including the American Journal of Kidney Disease, Circulation Research, the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Science Signaling, and the Journal of Physical Chemistry.

Learn more about VCCBH pilot grants recipients and research projects.

Read about VCCBH past project directors and their projects.

Learn more about the Vermont Center for Cardiovascular & Brain Health at the University of Vermont.