Simons Foundation Announces 13 Recipients of 2024 Independence Awards
The Simons Foundation is pleased to announce the latest recipients of its prestigious independence awards. The 13 talented early-career scientists will receive support as they transition from mentored training to independent research positions.
Each fellow will receive up to two years of postdoctoral support with an annual salary of $85,000, plus a yearly resource and professional development allowance of $10,000. Upon assumption of an approved tenure-track faculty position, fellows will receive grant funding of $600,000 total over three years.
The three independence award programs are provided through the Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain (SCGB), the Simons Collaboration on Plasticity and the Aging Brain (SCPAB) and the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI). While each program focuses on different research areas, all three of this year’s programs support researchers whose backgrounds and experiences are underrepresented in science.
The SFARI Bridge to Independence Award supports scientists whose work spans the breadth of autism science that SFARI supports, including genetics, molecular mechanisms, circuits and systems, and clinical science.
The SCGB Transition to Independence Award supports scientists investigating large-scale circuits at single-cell resolution to understand neural dynamics and coding.
The SCPAB Transition to Independence Award supports researchers investigating the mechanisms of cognitive resilience and functional maintenance of the healthy aging brain.
The new fellows from all three programs will join 70 previous awardees as part of a learning community, engaging in professional development and community-building activities. Fellows will participate in workshops, meet with an assigned external mentor, receive support from Simons Foundation scientists and staff, and attend in-person Simons Foundation investigator meetings and Independence Award retreats.
On October 2, 2024, applications will open for the next iteration of the awards under a new program name: the Fellows-to-Faculty Award. This program is intended for senior postdoctoral scholars whose backgrounds and experiences are underrepresented in science and who will advance research in areas of science supported by the Simons Foundation’s Autism & Neuroscience division. For more information, visit the Fellows-to-Faculty Award information page.
Manon Bohic, Ph.D.
2024 SFARI Fellow
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Project: Modulating sensory processing in autism: the role of spinal oxytocin in touch and pain perception
Anindita Brahma, Ph.D.
2024 SCPAB Fellow
Rockefeller University
Project: Deciphering the pathways of healthy aging: novel insights from social insects
Amanda Buch, Ph.D.
2024 SFARI Fellow
Weill Cornell Medicine
Project: Precision ASD subtyping: AI-enabled integration for robust gene-brain-behavior biomarkers and individualized diagnostics
Zoé Christenson Wick, Ph.D.
2024 SCPAB Fellow
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Project: Cellular and network mechanisms of early cognitive decline during aging
Daniel Gray, Ph.D.
2024 SCPAB Fellow
University of California, Los Angeles
Project: Microglia-extracellular matrix regulation of synapse function in the healthy aged brain
Caroline Haimerl, Ph.D.
2024 SCGB Fellow
The Champalimaud Foundation
Project: Multiarea computations for multiscale behavior
Sofia Landi, Ph.D.
2024 SCGB Fellow
University of Washington
Project: Circuit mechanisms underlying the interplay between perception and memory
Hungoo Lee, Ph.D.
2024 SFARI Fellow
Massachusetts General Hospital
Project: Identifying novel factors for repeat expansion/contraction and FMR1 reactivation in fragile X syndrome
Mari Sepp, Ph.D.
2024 SFARI Fellow
University of Heidelberg
Project: Single-cell phenotypes of autism spectrum disorders in the developing cerebellum
Chenjie Shen, Ph.D.
2024 SFARI Fellow
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Project: Development of clinically applicable base editors for the treatment of monogenic syndromes associated with autism
Cleyton Sobrinho, Ph.D.
2024 SFARI Fellow
University of Connecticut
Project: Disordered breathing in autism: screen for central and peripheral nervous system involvement and therapeutic potential
Yanjun Sun, Ph.D.
2024 SCGB Fellow
Stanford University
Project: Generalized neural coding of environmental features in the subiculum
Qianqian Wang, Ph.D.
2024 SFARI Fellow
Stanford University
Project: Atomic-level understanding of cholesterol-centric mechanisms in autism-associated synaptic alterations
