5 ASU researchers will use the awards as opportunities for high-impact studies
Five researchers at Arizona State University’s Biodesign Institute have received $125,000 each in Edson seed grants to pursue early-stage studies into the causes and mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
The Edson seed grant funding is a part of Charlene and J. Orin Edson’s $50 million gift to ASU from 2019 for dementia research and education initiatives. This year, the recipients are M. Foster Olive, Ashley Keiser, Jessica Judd, Bertram Jacobs and Benjamin Readhead.
“The seed funding provided by the Edson endowment affords Biodesign researchers the opportunity to pursue exciting, high-risk initial studies and to generate data for publication and subsequent grant application for larger-scale agency and foundation grants,” said Stephen Munk, deputy director of the Biodesign Institute. “These novel ideas serve to drive understanding and treatment of various debilitating neurological conditions and afford students the opportunity to learn and contribute to bettering the human condition.”
M. Foster Olive, associate director of undergraduate neuroscience, was awarded funding to investigate how amphetamine-type stimulant use may increase the risk of Alzheimer’s and related dementias.
Ashley Keiser, an assistant professor at the ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center and School of Life Sciences, is examining SMAD2 signaling as a possible early modulator of memory decline in Alzheimer’s disease, offering a potential new pathway for therapeutic intervention.
Jessica Judd, an associate research scientist at the ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center, is exploring the tau-mitochondria axis in neurodegeneration, which could shed light on how cellular energy systems are disrupted in brains with neurodegenerative diseases.
Bertram Jacobs, professor of virology at the School of Life Sciences, is studying oxidative stress and necroptotic cell death in dopaminergic neurons.
Benjamin Readhead, research associate professor at the ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center, is focusing on a potential viral trigger for neurodegeneration, investigating whether a human cytomegalovirus subtype may be associated with Parkinson’s disease.
“The winners of the 2025 Edson grants successfully out-competed many other outstanding scientists, and these grants were peer reviewed rigorously,” said Jeffrey Kordower, founding director of the ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center. “Each one of the teams is studying an important topic in a rigorous manner, and we’re excited to see — at the completion of their research — what they’ve discovered.”
Munk noted that the range of projects funded this year illustrates the creative and exploratory spirit the seed grants are designed to support.
“Current studies range from viral causes of neurological disease in the Readhead group and oxidative damage to neurons in the Jacobs group,” he said. “Other awards support exciting studies on protein tangling and cellular energy management in the Judd group, novel cellular signal pathways in the Keiser group, and substance abuse as a risk factor for dementia in the Olive group.”
By Rithwik Kalale |
August 25, 2025