Research Grant Funding

Title: Neurostimulation and Recording of Real World Spatial Navigation in Humans 

Investigators:  Nanthia Suthana, PhD; Barbara Knowlton, PhD; Itzhak Fried, MD, PhD; Dawn Eliashiv, MD; John Stern, MD; and Thomas Tcheng, PhD

Sponsor: NIH/NINDS ($3.3 million)

Purpose: An investigation of human spatial navigation using stimulation and recording of intracranial neuronal activity in the medial temporal lobe during freely moving immersive virtual reality navigational tasks.

Title: Responsive Neurostimulation for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 

Investigators:  Jean-Philippe Langevin, MD; Avishek Adhikari, PhD; Ausaf Bari, MD, PhD; James Chen, MD; Michael Fanselow, PhD; Ralph Koek, MD; Scott Krahl, PhD; Alexis Kulick, PhD; Mark Mandelkern, MD, PhD; David McArthur, PhD; David Sultzer, MD; and Nanthia Suthana, PhD

Sponsor: NIH/NINDS ($4.2 million)

Purpose: By approaching PTSD from a fear processing mechanism perspective, our project will serve as a proof of concept for other circuit-based therapies in psychiatry. This proposal is a multi-departmental effort involving 11 investigators across 7 departments and requires a close collaboration between clinical and basic scientists. As a result, the findings underlying our chronic recordings will bridge the basic science results from fear conditioning research to clinical neural processes in PTSD patients.

Title: Development of CNS Metastasis Program 

Investigators: Robert Prins, PhD; Richard Everson, MD; Willy Hugo, PhD; and Won Kim, MD

Sponsor: UCLA CTSI ($250,000)

Purpose: Interdepartmental seed grant to evaluate the immune response to brain metastases and find novel ways to treat these tumors. 

Title: Active Vaccination and the Timing of Checkpoint Blockade Dictate Effective Immunotherapy for Glioblastoma 

Investigators: Robert Prins, PhD; Timothy F. Cloughesy, MD; Richard Everson, MD; Willy Hugo, PhD; and Linda Liau, MD, PhD, MBA

Sponsor: Brain Tumor Funders' Collaborative ($715,000)

Purpose: Clinical trial in glioblastoma patients with personalized dendritic cell vaccine together with PD-1 checkpoint blockade. 

Title: Elevated TIL accumulation, with clonal TCR expansion and inflammatory tumor gene expression, predict clinical benefit of PD-1 blockade in patients with recurrent glioblastoma 

Investigators: Robert Prins, PhD; Timothy F. Cloughesy, MD; and Willy Hugo, PhD; and Linda Liau, MD, PhD, MBA

Sponsor: Cancer Research Institute – Clinic and Laboratory Integration Program Award ($200,000)

Purpose: To develop new biomarkers for PD-1 blockade in glioblastoma patients. 

Donations made payable to The UCLA Foundation can be mailed to:

UCLA Neurosurgery
Development Office 
Box 956901
Los Angeles, CA 90095-6901