The Dan Lewis Foundation for Brain Regeneration Research Announces 2024 Prize Open for Applications
Dan Lewis Foundation | Winter 2024

The Dan Lewis Foundation for Brain Regeneration Research (the DLF) is happy to announce the 2024 DLF Prize. This $20,000 prize will be awarded to an early career scientist in neuroscience, pharmacology, or biotechnology whose research record and future research plans align closely with one or more of the DLF’s current research priorities. These research priorities are:


  1. Research into pharmacological methods of reactivating or augmenting synaptogenesis
  2. Research into trials of repleting damaged cortex using derived cortical neurons
  3. Research into transcriptomic profiles of cortical neurons during the recovery phase post brain injury
  4. Research furthering the effective design of antisense oligonucleotides and/or other small molecule medicines to down-regulate inhibitors of regeneration in the cortex and spinal cord.


The successful applicant must be an early career scientist in neuroscience, molecular biology, pharmacology, or biotechnology. The “early career scientist” should be within 2-5 years post-completion of their doctoral degree. Full consideration is given to those scientists working in an academic setting (university or non-profit) or commercial setting (e.g., pharmaceutical or biotech company). The application is due March 31, 2024. Full details are available online through the linked application portal below. The winner of the DLF Prize 2024 will be notified in early June 2024.


https://www.danlewisfoundation. org/application-portal   


The winner of the 2023 DLF Prize, Dr. Roei Maimon has focused on stimulating the brain to create new neurons, an important process in mitigating the detrimental effects of neurodegenerative diseases and injuries. Most recently, Dr. Maimon and colleagues designed and executed tests using a certain type of biomolecular “medicines” called antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) to generate glia-to-neuron conversion in the adult rodent nervous system. These new neurons matured and functionally integrated into endogenous circuits over a two month period, ultimately positively influencing the behavior of the mice.


Dr. Maimon has demonstrated his enthusiasm for the DLF and for the field of brain regeneration research by participating in several DLF activities designed to increase public awareness of our mission. We look forward to meeting the next DLF Prize winner and to supporting the development of young neuroscientists and their accomplishments in the field of brain regeneration.

Gloved hands hold a tablet showing medical data in a lab with blurred researchers in the background

ARPA-H Launches a Major Program in Brain Regeneration and Initiates a Second Offshoot Program

By Dan Lewis Foundation • July 24, 2026
ARPA-H, which stands for Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. One of its major projects is called the FRONT program which stands for Functional Repair of Neocortical Tissue .  The FRONT program focuses on repair and regeneration of the neocortex, the largest part of the brain. The neocortex is critical for many aspects of cognition and everyday functioning. The neocortex can be damaged in many ways including stroke, traumatic injury, and neurodegeneration, such as in Alzheimer's disease. Serious damage to the neocortex often causes individuals to be dependent on costly therapies or caregivers and can also lead to related health and medical problems. The FRONT program hopes to alter this pattern by using cutting-edge neurodevelopmental principles and stem cell technology to regenerate brain tissue and restore lost functions.
Lab technicians in blue gloves working with samples in a bright laboratory

Can Lost Brain Tissue Be Rebuilt?

By Hal Lewis • July 24, 2026
For decades, families facing severe traumatic brain injury have lived with a painful assumption: once brain tissue is lost, recovery is limited to what the surviving brain can re-learn. Rehabilitation can help. Technology can assist. Time can produce surprises. But the central wound—the loss of brain cells, circuits, and connections—has often been treated as permanent. That assumption is beginning to change.