The McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience has selected four projects to receive the 2026 Neurobiology of Brain Disorders Awards. The awards will total $1.2 million for research on the biology of brain diseases, with each project receiving $100,000 per year in each of the next three years for a total of $300,000 funded per project.
Les prix de neurobiologie des troubles cérébraux (NBD) soutiennent la recherche innovante de scientifiques américains qui étudient les maladies neurologiques et psychiatriques. Les prix encouragent la collaboration entre les neurosciences fondamentales et cliniques pour traduire les découvertes de laboratoire sur le cerveau et le système nerveux en diagnostics et thérapies visant à améliorer la santé humaine.
Un autre domaine d’intérêt est la contribution de l’environnement aux troubles cérébraux. Le stress environnemental au début de la vie est un puissant facteur favorisant les troubles neurologiques et psychiatriques ultérieurs. Des études montrent que les communautés de couleur sont plus exposées à ces facteurs de stress, qui vont de l'environnement (par exemple le climat, la nutrition, l'exposition aux produits chimiques, la pollution) au social (par exemple la famille, l'éducation, le logement, la pauvreté). D’un point de vue clinique, comprendre comment les facteurs environnementaux contribuent aux maladies cérébrales est essentiel pour développer des thérapies efficaces.
“From uncovering how physiological temperature reshapes pain signaling, to mapping circuits that connect early life adversity to fear, to restoring motor plasticity in the aging brain, the researchers selected for this year’s award are pushing the frontiers of neuroscience in bold and much needed directions,” said Michael Ehlers, M.D., Ph.D., Chair of the Awards Committee. This year’s projects include investigations into temperature as a missing variable in pain biology and drug discovery, the development of septal dopamine circuits controlling fear in the context of early life stress, the rescue of cortical plasticity and motor learning in aging, and an environmentally focused project examining how early life high fructose exposure impairs microglial function and disrupts neurodevelopment. These efforts promise to reshape our understanding of brain disease and point to transformative therapeutic possibilities for the future.”
Les prix s'inspirent des intérêts de William L. McKnight, qui a fondé la McKnight Foundation en 1953 et souhaitait soutenir la recherche sur les maladies cérébrales. Sa fille, Virginia McKnight Binger, et le conseil d'administration de la McKnight Foundation ont créé le programme de neurosciences McKnight en son honneur en 1977.
Plusieurs prix sont décernés chaque année. Les quatre prix de cette année sont :
Juan Du, Ph.D.
Professor, Northwestern University
Temperature as a Missing Dimension in Pain Neurobiology and Therapy
Corey Harwell, Ph.D.
Professor, University of California, San Francisco
How Early Life Stress Shapes the Development of Septal Dopamine Circuits Controlling Fear
Takaki Komiyama, Ph.D.
University of California, San Diego
Rescuing Motor Learning Failure in Aging
Justin Perry, Ph.D.
Associate Member, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Understanding how early life high fructose exposure suppresses microglia efferocytosis and disrupts neurodevelopment
With 177 applications received this year, the awards are highly competitive. A committee of distinguished scientists reviews the letters and invites a select few researchers to submit full proposals. In addition to Dr. Ehlers, the committee includes Nancy Bonini, Ph.D, University of Pennsylvania; Nicole Calakos, M.D., Ph.D., Duke University; Gloria Choi, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Joseph G. Gleeson, M.D., University of California San Diego; Evan Macosko, M.D., Ph.D., Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University; and Michael Sofroniew, Ph.D., M.D., University of California, Los Angeles.
Applications for both the 2027 Neurobiology of Brain Disorders Awards and Scholar Awards open August 3, 2026, and will be accepted through October 15 and November 3, 2026, respectively.
À propos du Fonds de dotation McKnight pour les neurosciences
Le Fonds de dotation McKnight pour les neurosciences est une organisation indépendante, financée exclusivement par la Fondation McKnight de Minneapolis, au Minnesota, et dirigée par un conseil d'administration composé d'éminents neuroscientifiques de tout le pays. La Fondation McKnight soutient la recherche en neurosciences depuis 1977. Elle a créé le Fonds de dotation en 1986 pour concrétiser l'une des intentions de son fondateur, William L. McKnight (1887-1978), l'un des premiers dirigeants de la société 3M.
En plus des prix de neurobiologie des troubles cérébraux, le fonds de dotation offre également un financement annuel par le biais des McKnight Scholar Awards, soutenant les neuroscientifiques dans les premiers stades de leur carrière de chercheur.
Prix de neurobiologie des troubles cérébraux
Juan Du, Ph.D., Professor, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Temperature as a Missing Dimension in Pain Neurobiology and Therapy
Temperature is one of the most fundamental signals sensed by the nervous system, shaping experiences from the warmth of sunlight to the pain of touching a hot surface. The Du laboratory studies how the body detects temperature and how disruptions in these pathways contribute to neurological disorders.
Recent discoveries from the Du laboratory suggest that temperature is a previously overlooked “missing dimension” in biomedical research and drug discovery. Most biological experiments and drug screenings are performed at room temperature, even though proteins function in the body at 37°C. The lab discovered that important protein states and drug interactions can remain hidden under conventional laboratory conditions and only emerge at body temperature. These findings may help explain why some drug candidates succeed in early studies but fail later in development. Through this project, the team aims to uncover how temperature-driven protein dynamics contribute to chronic pain and to develop “temperature-aware” therapies with greater precision and fewer side effects.
Corey Harwell, Ph.D., Professor, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA
How Early Life Stress Shapes the Development of Septal Dopamine Circuits Controlling Fear
Anxiety disorders affect millions of people worldwide, and early life stress is one of the strongest risk factors for developing anxiety and trauma-related disorders later in life. Despite this clear link, the mechanisms by which stressful experiences during childhood alter the developing brain remain poorly understood. Emerging evidence suggests that disruptions in dopamine circuits involved in fear, safety learning, and emotional regulation may contribute to long-lasting changes in behavior.
The Harwell lab aims to determine how early life stress alters the development of a specific dopamine circuit connecting the ventral tegmental area and lateral septum, two brain regions involved in regulating fear and anxiety-related behaviors. Using advanced genetic, imaging, and behavioral approaches in mice, the lab will define how stress changes the maturation and activity of this circuit and whether these alterations impair the ability to recognize when danger has passed. Overall, this work could identify new therapeutic targets and developmental windows for treating anxiety and trauma-related disorders.
Takaki Komiyama, Ph.D., Professor, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, CA
Rescuing Motor Learning Failure in Aging
The brain continuously reshapes itself through experience, allowing people to learn new skills, adapt to changing environments, and recover from challenges. Yet this remarkable flexibility is not unlimited. As we age and in many neurological conditions, the brain circuits become less able to reorganize itself in an adaptive manner, making learning and recovery increasingly difficult. Takaki Komiyama’s research seeks to uncover the fundamental rules that allow the brain to remain adaptable throughout life and to understand why those mechanisms sometimes fail.
His laboratory combines innovative approaches that allow researchers to observe and precisely influence the activity of individual neurons in the brains of behaving animals. By studying how experiences alter neural circuits, his team aims not only to reveal how learning naturally occurs, but also to determine whether the brain’s ability to change can be restored or enhanced when it becomes impaired. This work seeks to bridge fundamental discoveries about how the brain learns with future strategies to improve learning, recovery, and brain health across the lifespan.
Justin Perry, Ph.D., Associate Member, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY
Understanding How Early Life High Fructose Exposure Suppresses Microglia Efferocytosis and Disrupts Neurodevelopment
Despite its success as a low-cost food additive, there has been significant attention on the potential downsides to the dramatic increase in use of high fructose corn syrup across the world, especially in foods marketed to children. Emerging evidence suggests that high fructose consumption by pregnant mothers (via breast milk) or by adolescent children is associated with the development of mood, anxiety, and autism spectrum disorders during adolescence. Despite this emerging link and the growing prevalence of such disorders, very little is known about how high fructose exposure affects neurodevelopment.
During development, the human brain not only massively expands the number of new neurons formed but must also remove neurons that are deemed surplus. This process is achieved by specialized cells, called microglia, who must manage this burdensome but essential process in the harsh environment of the developing brain. Dr. Perry aims to apply cutting-edge approaches from multiple fields to uncover the metabolic pathways that support phagocytosis by microglia and to understand why these pathways go awry when the brain is exposed to high fructose.
