Grant Recipients


Click here to read more about the 2019 Grant Recipients!

  • Katherine Burns – University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine
    Targeting neutrophilic responses in the initiation of endometriosis.
  • Charbonney Emmanuel – CHUM, University of Montreal
    • New insights in the role of uric acid in the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy
  • James Checco – University of Nebraska-Lincoln
    • A multi-analytical approach to identify interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS) biomarkers in urine
  • Jennifer Condon – Wayne State University
    • Pharmacological targeting of GRP78 as a novel therapeutic for the inhibition of idiopathic preterm birth.
  • Chen Huei Leo – Singapore University of Technology & Design
    • Relaxin treatment of liver fibrosis and vascular dysfunction using a novel animal model of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis
  • Carlos Penha-Goncalves – Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia
    • Crosstalk of liver damage-associated endothelial cells and macrophages: exploiting TREM-2 as a therapeutic target in liver regenerative responses.
  • Giorgio Ivan Russo – University of Catania
    • Association between protein expression and oncological outcomes in bladder cancer patients receiving radical cystectomy after BCG failure
  • Xiaoqin Ye – University of Georgia
    • Intrauterine fluid resorption to facilitate embryo implantation


Click here to read more about the 2018 Grant Recipients!

  • Fiona Cousins – Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Monash University
    New treatment of endometriosis in a preclinical model.
  • Laurent Derré – University Hospital of Lausanne (CHUV) 
    Immunotherapeutic strategies targeting ILC2 and MDSCs to treat bladder cancer.
  • Marta Dueñas – Fundación para la Investigación Hospital 12 de Octubre
    Evaluation of miRNAs and miRNA derived peptides (miPEPs) in liquid biopsies for bladder cancer diagnosis, prognosis and BCG treatment response.
  • Tracey Edgell – Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Monash University
    A novel non-hormonal therapeutic path for improving pregnancy success rates.
  • Pradipta Ghosh – University of California, San Diego
    Boolean Algorithms to Develop Precision Macrophage Reprogramming Therapeutics in IBD: From Math to (Wo)Man.
  • Emmet Hirsch – NorthShore University HealthSystem
    Surfactant Protein A (SP-A): A novel agent to prevent preterm birth.
  • Harmeet Malhi – Mayo Clinic
    Hepatocyte-derived extracellular vesicle sphingolipidomics are a diagnostic and prognostic biomarker in nonalcoholic steatohepatitis.
  • Hiroshi Miyamoto – University of Rochester 
    The role of latrophilins in urothelial tumorigenesis: a novel chemopreventive target for bladder cancer.


Click here to read more about the 2017 Grant Recipients!

  • Stéphane Bolduc – CHU de Québec – Université Laval Research Center
    Identify protein(s) secreted by urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) involved in modification of tumor-associated stroma by activation of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts (CAF).
  • Marcello Costa – Flinders University
    Enteric neuropeptides modulation of colonic motility in health and disease.
  • Warren Foster – McMaster University
    Evaluation of a novel therapeutic intervention for the management of endometriosis in a mouse model
  • Andrew Horne – University of Edinburgh
    Targeting TGFβ-1 with an extracellular peptide inhibitor to treat women with peritoneal endometriosis.
  • K. Joseph Hurt – University of Colorado
    Adiponectin receptor regulation of myometrial contractility suggests novel therapeutic targets to augment uterine quiescence and prevent preterm birth.
  • Ursula Kaiser – Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
    Differential modulation of LH and FSH by GnRH analogs for improved treatment of reproductive disorders.
  • Sarah Marshall – Monash University
    Exploring novel therapies for preeclampsia: the role of soluble prorenin receptor on vasculature function.
  • Kathryn Meier – Washington State University
    FSH receptor as a therapeutic target in prostate cancer.
  • Victor Navarro – Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School
    Targeting the Kappa Opioid Receptor to Regulate LH Pulses in PCOS Patients.
  • Willis Samson – Saint Louis University, School of Medicine
    A Novel Ligand (Adropin) – Receptor (GPR19) Handshake: Implications for the Control of Growth Hormone Secretion.
  • John Taylor – Kansas University Medical Center
    The Role of d-Dopachrome Tautomerase in Bladder Cancer Tumorigenesis. 
  • Suraj Unniappan – University of Saskatchewan
    Nesfatin-1 and nesfatin-1-like peptide regulation of growth and stress hormones: novel targets for endocrine diseases.
  • Henrique Veiga-Fernandes – Champalimaud Foundation
    Neuro-immune interactions in inflammatory bowel diseases.


Click here to read more about the 2016 Grant Recipients!

  • Stuart Brierley – Flinders University
    Venom-derived NaV1.1 inhibitors as novel candidates for treating chronic visceral pain associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS.)
  • James Deane – Hudson Institute of Medical Research
    Investigating the requirement for Notch and Hedgehog signalling in the endometrial stem/progenitor populations that cause endometriosis.
  • Laurent Derré – Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois
    Understanding Siglec-related immunity in bladder cancer.
  • Renjie Jin– Vanderbilt University
    Sensitizing castration-resistant prostate cancer to anti-androgens by targeting gastrin-releasing peptide (GRP) receptor
  • Florenta Kullmann – University of Pittsburgh
    Artemin: a novel target for treatment of interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome (IC/BPS)
  • Mireille Lahoud – Monash University
    The development of Clec12A-ligands as a therapeutic approach to regulate gastrointestinal inflammation
  • Padma Murthi – Monash University
    Investigating the role of novel peptide as an effective target to improve placental function in preeclampsia
  • Markus Muttenthaler – University of Queensland
    Mapping the location and function of oxytocin and vasopressin receptors throughout the gut
  • Rodrigo Pacheco – Fundación Ciencia & Vida
    Targeting heteromers formed by G-protein coupled receptors involved in the gut-homing of T-cells in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD)
  • Aritro Sen – University of Rochester Medical Center
    Regulation of AMH expression by GDF9, BMP15 and FSH during follicular development as a novel therapeutic option
  • Marie van Dijk – Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam
    ELABELA as a potential biomarker and therapeutic for pre-eclampsia


  • Steven Cohn – University of Virginia
    Immunomodulation of RELMβ as a treatment for IBD
  • Nardhy Gomez-Lopez – Wayne State University School of Medicine
    A role for exendin-4 in the prevention of preterm birth
  • Peter Gray – The Salk Institute for Biological Studies
    Targeting Cripto in castration-resistant prostate cancer
  • Guiying Nie– Hudson Institute of Medical Research
    Improving fertility by targeting a novel uterine barrier for embryo
    implantation
  • Laura Parry – The University of Melbourne
    Treatment of vascular dysfunction in preeclampsia


  • Stuart Brierley – Flinders University
    Venom-derived NaV1.1 inhibitors as novel candidates for treating chronic visceral pain associated with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS.)
  • Kathleen M. Caron – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
    Adrenomedullin delivery to improve reproductive outcomes
  • Jakob Begun – Mater Research Institute
    Towards an oral IL-22 agonist for ulcerative colitis