Dr. Vidhya Rangaraju awarded NIH Director’s New Innovator Award for Brain Energy Research

Dr. Vidhya Rangaraju, a Research Group Leader at the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (MPFI), has been awarded the prestigious NIH Director’s New Innovator Award for her research on how the brain generates and regulates energy. This highly competitive award provides Dr. Rangaraju with $2.895 million over five years to support her innovative research in neuroenergetics. Her work focuses on understanding how neurons sustain energy to support essential functions like learning, memory, and brain development.

Dr. Rangaraju’s research has broad implications for unraveling the core mechanisms that fuel cognitive function and how they are disrupted in neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s. One key discovery by her team is the role of the ALS-linked protein VAP in stabilizing mitochondria within neuronal dendrites, helping neurons locally fuel synaptic plasticity crucial for learning and memory.

Prior to her position at MPFI, Dr. Rangaraju was an EMBO and Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Brain Research in Germany, where she uncovered the presence of local mitochondrial compartments of energy that fuel synaptic protein synthesis during plasticity. She completed her Ph.D. at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, where she developed a novel optical reporter of synaptic ATP to measure dynamic changes in ATP concentrations.

Dr. Rangaraju is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Vincent du Vigneaud Award of Excellence, Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting Award, and the MPIBR Scientific Discovery of the Year Award, among others. Her exceptional track record of accomplishment and groundbreaking research have earned her the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, which supports exceptionally creative early-career investigators proposing highly innovative research projects.

The Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience (MPFI) where Dr. Rangaraju conducts her research, is a leading not-for-profit research organization and part of the world-renowned Max Planck Society with over 84 institutes worldwide. MPFI provides exceptional neuroscientists with resources and technology to answer fundamental brain development and function questions. The institute is at the forefront of cutting-edge neuroscience, as highlighted by Dr. Rangaraju’s recognition with the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award.

Overall, Dr. Vidhya Rangaraju’s research on brain energy dynamics and neuroenergetics has garnered significant recognition and support, positioning her as a leader in the field of neuroscience. Her innovative work is critical for understanding neuronal diseases based on energy deficiencies and has the potential to make groundbreaking scientific discoveries.

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