Newswise — July 1, 2024 (Rolling Meadows, Ill.) – The Neurosurgery Research & Education Foundation (NREF) is pleased to announce this year’s recipients of the foundation’s Research Fellowship Grants and Young Clinician Investigator Awards. “Year after year, the NREF receives applications from some of the most promising researchers in the country. The decisions were extraordinarily difficult this year. The exceptional quality of the proposals submitted by the awardees makes us optimistic for the future of neurosurgery. We are grateful for the generosity of the donors, sections and affiliated organizations who make these awards possible.” stated Gregory J. Zipfel, MD, FAANS, NREF Research Committee Chair.


As the premier funder of neurosurgical studies, the NREF provides funding for studies in basic, translational and patient-oriented clinical research for investigators in North America.


Open to residents only, the NREF Research Fellowship Grant provides training for neurosurgeons who are preparing for academic careers as clinician investigators. Applicants must be physicians who have been accepted into, or who are currently in approved residency training programs in neurological surgery in North America.


The NREF Young Clinician Investigator Award supports junior faculty who are pursuing careers as clinical investigators. Applicants must be neurosurgeons who are no more than two years from the end of their clinical training and are full-time faculty in North American teaching institutions.


The 2024-25 Research Fellowship Grant and Young Clinician Investigator Award recipients are:


Kathryn Kearns, MD, University of Virginia

  • Award: 2024-25 NREF & AANS/CNS Cerebrovascular Section Research Fellowship Grant
  • Sponsor: Petr Tvrdik, PhD
  • Project Title: The Effect of Long-Term Exogeneous VEGF Administration on Angiogenesis in a Murine Model of Moyamoya

Brandon Lucke-Wold, MD, PhD, University of Florida

  • Award: 2024-25 NREF & AANS/CNS Cerebrovascular Section Research Fellowship Grant
  • Sponsor: Brian Hoh, MD, FAANS
  • Project Title: Satralizumab as a Treatment for Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage (the STASH Trial)