Early Career Acceleration Awards Named After the Late Ben Barres

In February, we announced our call for applications for projects addressing neurodegenerative disorders. We’re focused on promoting collaboration across disciplines to find new, innovative solutions to conditions like ALS, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. We are also supporting scientists early in their career as they pursue breakthroughs to address these diseases. Our Early Career Acceleration Awards was named after the late Ben Barres, a researcher at Stanford University and an early advisor to our science team.

Ben revolutionized the field of neuroscience by studying the parts of the brain that others ignored. He embodied the spirit of creativity that we hope to encourage with these new awards, and was known by friends and colleagues at Stanford for the passion he brought to science and medicine. He was also known for championing young researchers, for his support of women in science, and for being one of the first openly transgender scientists. Ben opened many doors.

Ben was a friend, colleague, and advisor, and we miss him. The Ben Barres Early Career Acceleration Awards, as part of our new Neurodegeneration RFA, are our way of honoring his work, his spirit of thinking outside the box, and his commitment to helping scientists early in their career to succeed. Here’s to Ben.

Neuroscience awards named in honor of Ben Barres

The five-year awards from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will help fuel research into the biology of neurodegenerative diseases. The awards honor a Stanford neuroscientist who died in December.

med.stanford.edu