The 16 awardees from The Johns Hopkins University — representing research ranging from basic sciences to clinical sciences — are among 25 scientists who will share the $7.1 million award approved by The Maryland Stem Cell Research Commission.

The Maryland Stem Cell Research Fund (MSCRF) was established by the governor and the Maryland General Assembly through the Maryland Stem Cell Research Act of 2006 to promote state-funded stem cell research in Maryland. To date, over $147 million and over 430 grants have been committed.

The awardees are:

Study of Arrhythmogenic Cardiomyopathy Using a Syncytial Model of hiPSCs
Adriana Blazeski
Research Fellow, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Design and Use of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Bioreactors in Myocardial Preservation
Samarjit Das
Research Associate, Department of Pathology, Division of Cardiac Pathology

Neurotoxic Astrocytes in Neurodegeneration
Valina Dawson
Director, Neuroregeneration and Stem Cell Program, Institute for Cell Engineering
Professor of Neurology

Stem Cell Therapy to Convert Stump Skin to Palmo-Plantar Skin in Amputees
Luis Garza
Associate Professor of Dermatology

Oxygen-Delivering BiO2-Bone Scaffolds for Regenerating Vascularized Craniofacial Bone
Warren Grayson
Director, Laboratory for Craniofacial and Orthopaedic Tissue Engineering
Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering

 Use of 3D Minibrain Organoids for Studying C9orf72 ALS/FTD Disease Mechanisms
 Kenji Johnson
 Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Modeling of Parkinson’s Disease Using PD-Patients iPSCs-Derived Dopaminergic Neurons with Optical Controllable Alpha-Synuclein
Minseong Kim
Research Fellow, Institute for Cell Engineering

Manganese-Enhanced MRI for Interrogating Astrocyte Replacement in a Mouse Model of ALS
Mehreen Kouser
Research Fellow, Department of Radiology-Magnetic Resonance Research

Optically-Induced VEFG Activation in Human Endothelial Cells
Gabsang Lee
Associate Professor of Neurology

Generation of Cancer Progression Models through New Optogenetic Tool to Control p53 in iPSCs
Su Chan Lee
Research Fellow, Institute for Cell Engineering

Functional Property Evaluation of iPSC-Derived Cardiac Tissues for Optimized Heart Disease Treatment
Seungman Park
Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Identification and Isolation of the Human Enteric Neural Stem Cell: Laying Foundation for Curing Achalasia
Pankaj Pasricha
Director, Center for Neurogastroenterology
Professor of Medicine

A Human Stem Cell-Derived Sensory Neuron Model of VZV Infection
Arun Venkatesan
Associate Director, Neurology Residency Program
Associate Professor of Neurology

Development of an iPSC Derived Cellular Model of Barth Syndrome: Towards Novel Therapeutic Discovery
Hilary Vernon
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics

A Novel 3D Microphysiological Brain Model for Studying Neurodegenerative Disease ALS/FTD
Jiou Wang
Associate Professor, Bloomberg School of Public Health

3D Vascularized Hydrogel Scaffold to Carry Stem Cells for Traumatic Brain Injury Repair
Wei Zhu
Research Fellow, Department of Radiology-Magnetic Resonance Research