Nine Principal Investigators Join the SPARK NS Program, 2026 Cohort

The nine projects are collectively eligible for up to $18 million in funding and support for drug development.

Front row: L to R: Veerle Baekelandt, Pamela England, Špela Miroševič, Antonio Hardan. Back row: L to R Tobias Boeckers, Joseph Buxbaum, Saranna Fanning, Joseph Mazzulli, and Michael Johnson
Front row: L to R: Veerle Baekelandt, Pamela England, Špela Miroševič, Antonio Hardan. Back row: L to R Tobias Boeckers, Joseph Buxbaum, Saranna Fanning, Joseph Mazzulli, and Michael Johnson

SPARK NS has selected nine projects and principal investigators for the SPARK NS Translational Research Program, 2026 Cohort. The projects focus on therapeutics for autism and Parkinson’s disease and are based in academic and nonprofit research institutions in the US, UK, and Europe. Participation in the program lasts two years during which each project is eligible to receive up to $2,000,0001 in milestone-based funding.

The SPARK NS Translational Research Program is based on an unconventional and proven model of translational research with an exceptional 50%2 success rate at guiding discoveries from the lab to the clinic. In addition to funding, research teams get ongoing advice from 90+ industry expert advisors; in-person and online education in drug development and translational research; participation in a collaborative community where they can share ideas and resources and learn from experts; and post-program support to help them bridge to later stages of the drug development process.

“As an academic with a potential therapeutic, I learned years ago that drug development is difficult, takes a long time, and is very expensive,” said Daria Mochly-Rosen, PhD, a SPARK NS Board Director and Chief Science and Education Advisor. “I also realized that most academic researchers lack the expertise and know-how to overcome the many obstacles on the path to commercialization of even the most promising discoveries. At SPARK NS, we provide funding. But we also bring a high level of support and accountability to the process that most academic researchers have never experienced. The combination improves the odds that therapeutics will make it to market where they can directly benefit patients.”

Combined with eight projects selected for the 2025 Cohort and five projects selected for the 2024 Cohort, the addition of nine new projects brings the total number participating in the SPARK NS program to 22. Collectively, the 22 projects are eligible for up to $44 million in funding. See information on all 22 projects currently participating in the SPARK NS program.

SPARK NS will release a Call for Proposals for the 2027 Cohort of the program in March 2026. For the 2027 Cohort, SPARK NS will accept applications from principal investigators in the US, Canada, UK, and Europe with projects focused on autism and Parkinson’s disease. The cohort will launch in January 2027. Sign up for updates.

SPARK NS 2026 Cohort Announcement

The nine projects and principal investigators selected for the 2026 Cohort are:

  • Targeting Neuroinflammation for Parkinson's Disease

Veerle Baekelandt, PhD, Professor, Head of Laboratory for Neurobiology and Gene Therapy, KU Leuven - Bio

  • A Therapeutic for Shank3-related Autism (PMS)

Tobias M. Boeckers, MD, Professor, Head of the Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Ulm University; Group Leader, Translational Protein Biochemistry, DZNE, Ulm Site - Bio

  • RNA Targeted Small Molecule Therapeutics for Autism

Joseph D. Buxbaum, PhD, Professor, Psychiatry, Genetics, Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai - Bio

  • Targeting Neuroinflammation for the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease

Pamela M. England, PhD, Professor, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco - Bio

  • Targeting Lipid Metabolism for the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease

Saranna Fanning, PhD, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s Hospital - Bio

  • Modulating GABAergic Transmission for the Treatment of Autism

Antonio Hardan, MD, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford Medicine, Stanford University - Bio

  • A Human Genetics-driven Approach for Disease Modification in Parkinson's Disease

Michael Johnson, DPhil, FRACP, FRCP, Professor of Neurology and Genomic Medicine, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London - Bio

  • Enhancing the Autophagic-Lysosomal Pathway in Parkinson's Disease

Joseph R. Mazzulli, PhD, Dimitri Kranic Professor of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine - Bio

  • Gene Therapy Targeting CTNNB1-linked Autism

Špela Miroševič, PhD, Founding President, CTNNB1 Foundation - Bio

References

  1. Not all funds awarded go directly to PIs’ laboratories. For example, work done by vetted research organizations or academic research facilities is paid for by SPARK NS directly to the organizations from awarded funds. 
  2. Kim, J.S., Kargotich, S., Lee, S.H. et al. SPARKing academic technologies across the valley of death. Nature Biotechnology 42, 339-342 (2024).

Learn more

  • Explore the 22 projects and principal investigators from the SPARK NS 2024, 2025, and 2026 Cohorts
  • Sign up for updates on the 2027 Cohort of the program and other SPARK NS updates
  • Learn more about SPARK NS

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