SPARK NS Projects
The SPARK NS Translational Research Program is dedicated to helping academic principal investigators more effectively advance their discoveries in autism and Parkinson’s disease from the lab to the clinic. Participation in the program lasts two years, during which each project receives the resources and support needed to achieve their translational objectives.
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SPARK NS Translational Research Program,
2026 Cohort
Targeting Neuroinflammation for Parkinson's Disease
Veerle Baekelandt, PhD
Professor, Head of Laboratory for Neurobiology and Gene Therapy, KU Leuven

A Therapeutic for Shank3-related Autism (PMS)
Tobias Boeckers, MD
Professor, Head of the Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Ulm University; Group Leader, Translational Protein Biochemistry, DZNE, Ulm Site

RNA Targeted Small Molecule Therapeutics for Autism
Joseph D. Buxbaum, PhD
Professor, Psychiatry, Genetics, Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Targeting Neuroinflammation for the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease
Pamela M England, PhD
Professor, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco

Targeting Lipid Metabolism for the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease
Saranna Fanning, PhD
Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s Hospital

Modulating GABAergic Transmission for the Treatment of Autism
Antonio Hardan, MD
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford Medicine, Stanford University

A Human Genetics-driven Approach for Disease Modification in Parkinson's Disease
Michael Johnson, DPhil, FRACP, FRCP
Professor of Neurology and Genomic Medicine, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London

Enhancing the Autophagic-Lysosomal Pathway in Parkinson's Disease
Joseph R. Mazzulli, PhD
Dimitri Kranic Professor of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Gene Therapy Targeting CTNNB1-linked Autism
Špela Miroševič, PhD
Founding President, CTNNB1 Foundation

SPARK NS Translational Research Program,
2025 Cohort
Development of a Small-Molecule Therapy for Treating Parkinson’s Disease
David S. Eisenberg, DPhil
Paul D. Boyer Chair of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of California, Los Angeles

An Integrated Approach to Identifying Pharmacological Stabilizers for Parkinson’s Disease
Mark Henderson, PhD
Group Leader, Biology, National Center for Advancing Translational Science (NCATS/NIH)

Targeting the Integrated Stress Response Pathway to Boost Mitophagy for Parkinson’s Disease
Miratul Muqit, MBChB, PhD
Professor of Experimental Neurology, University of Dundee

Restoring Mitochondrial Function in Parkinson’s Disease
Michael P. Rapé, PhD
Professor of Molecular Therapeutics and Investigator, HHMI, University of California, Berkeley

A Bioenergetic Activator for Parkinson’s Disease
Timothy A. Ryan, PhD
Professor of Biochemistry, Weill Cornell Medicine

Stimulating Endolysosomal Function for Parkinson’s Disease
David K. Simon, MD, PhD
Professor of Neurology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School

A Disease Modifying Gene Therapy for Parkinson’s Disease for Multimodal Patient Benefit
Kathy Steece-Collier, PhD
Professor, Department of Translational Neuroscience, Michigan State University College of Human Medicine

Development of a Calcium Channel Inhibitor to Slow Parkinson’s Disease Progression
D. James Surmeier, PhD
Nathan Smith Davis Professor and Chair, Department of Neuroscience, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University

SPARK NS Translational Research Program,
2024 Cohort
Reducing Alpha Synuclein Spread in Parkinson’s Disease
Alice S. Chen-Plotkin, MD
Parker Family Professor of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania

Design of Small Molecule Degraders of Synuclein mRNA for Parkinson’s Disease
Matthew D. Disney, PhD
Institute Professor and Chair, The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology, University of Florida

Small Molecule for Autophagy Enhancement for Parkinson’s Disease
James H. Hurley, PhD
Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology and Kirsch Springer Chair in Biological Sciences, University of California, Berkeley

Preventing Dopamine-Induced Neurotoxicity in Parkinson's Disease
Gary W. Miller, PhD
Vice Dean for Research Strategy and Innovation, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University

Axonal Reinnervation Therapy in Parkinson’s Disease
David Sulzer, PhD
Professor of Neurobiology, Columbia University
