CHICAGO, Ill. (November 4, 2025) — The American Brain Tumor Association (ABTA) announced the awarding of more than $1.3 million toward new grants in 2025 to advance brain tumor research and treatments.
This funding comes at an especially crucial time due to the proposed budget cuts to federal research organizations which fund majority of cancer research grants in the United States. “While we’ve seen important progress in brain cancer research, the brain tumor community still needs more effective ways to monitor and treat this disease,” said Kelly Sitkin, president and Chief Executive Officer of the ABTA. “That’s why we remain deeply committed to funding innovative research—just as we have since our founding more than 50 years ago.”
Nicole Willmarth, PhD, Chief Mission Officer of the ABTA, added, “Every dollar invested through our research program brings us closer to the answers patients and families urgently need. By supporting early-stage scientists and pioneering studies, we are not only accelerating discovery but also helping to build the next generation of brain tumor researchers dedicated to improving outcomes and hope for those impacted by this disease.”
Topics awarded this year include immunotherapy, proteomics, and radiation therapy. The ABTA congratulates the 2025 grant recipients listed below. To learn more about ABTA grant recipients and their research projects, visit www.abta.org/research/research-funding-impact-2.
Basic Research Fellowships are two-year, $100,000 grants awarded to postdoctoral fellows conducting brain tumor research under the guidance of established, nationally recognized leaders in neuro-oncology.
- Ahmed Gad, PhD, Baylor College of Medicine
- Ningning Liang, PhD, University of Michigan
- Michael Kilian, PhD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
- Kavita Rawat, PhD, University of Pennsylvania
- Amy Wisdom, MD, PhD, Massachusetts General Hospital
Discovery Grants are one-year, $50,000 awards that support bold, innovative research with the potential to transform current standards in brain tumor diagnosis or treatment.
- Nandini Acharya, PhD, Ohio State University
- Andrew Dhawan, MD, DPhil, Cleveland Clinic
- Mariella Filbin, MD, PhD, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
- Luciano Garofano, PhD, University of Miami
- Robyn Gartrell, MD, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
- Filipe Pereira, PhD, Lund University
- John Prensner, MD, PhD, University of Michigan
- Xueqin Sun, PhD, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute
- Dong Wang, PhD, University of Colorado Denver
- Murat Yildirim, PhD, Cleveland Clinic
Medical Student Summer Fellowships are three-month, $3,000 grants that support medical students conducting brain tumor research under the mentorship of neuro-oncology experts. These fellowships aim to inspire the next generation of physician-scientists to pursue careers in the brain tumor field.
- Stephanie Bean, BS, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
- Darwin Kwok, PhD, University of California, San Francisco
- Thomas Lai, BS, University of California, Los Angeles
- Vishva Natarajan, MS, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic
- Shree Pari, BS, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis
- Kristen Park, BS, University of Pennsylvania
- Gopi Patel, BS, University of Florida
- Christian Ramsoomair, BA, Miller School of Medicine of the University of Miami
- Robert Ruzic, MS, SUNY at Stony Brook
- James Trippett, MBE, University of California, San Francisco
- Alexander Wang, BS, Case Western Reserve University – School of Medicine
Awarding of these grants would not be possible without the incredible support of our donors and our partner organizations including: BrainUp, the Gladiator Project, the Southeastern Brain Tumor Foundation, StacheStrong, and the Yuvaan Tiwari Foundation.
The grants listed above are in addition to the grants below, announced earlier this year, which the ABTA awarded in partnership with other non-profit organizations as part of the Brain Tumor Funders’ Collaborative and the Metastatic Brain Tumor Collaborative.
Brain Tumor Funders’ Collaborative, Liquid Biopsy Grants
- Ching Lau, MD, PhD, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center
- Paul Northcott, PhD, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Metastatic Brain Tumor Collaborative, CNS Metastasis Research Grants
- Sherise Ferguson, MD, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
- Alireza Mansouri, MD, PhD, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine
The ABTA will soon open applications for its 2026 Research Collaboration Grants, Discovery Grants, Basic Research Fellowships, and Jack and Fay Netchin Medical Student Summer Fellowships. To learn more about available funding and deadlines, visit abta.org/grants.
About the ABTA
Founded in 1973, the American Brain Tumor Association provides comprehensive resources to support the complex needs of brain tumor patients and caregivers, across all ages and tumor types, as well as the critical funding of research in the pursuit of breakthroughs in brain tumor diagnoses, treatments, and care. To learn more, visit abta.org or call 800-886-ABTA (2282).
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