The CNF Scientific Award is two-year
research grant for work in the field of child neurology. This
award recognizes the work of a young researcher, who is a
child neurologist early in his/her career. The selected investigator
will receive a two-year grant of $30,000 per-year.
2009
CNF Scientific Award Winner
Dr. S. Ali Fatemi:
Ali Fatemi received his medical doctorate from the Medical University of Vienna in 1999. After graduation he served as a lecturer at the Institute for Medical Chemistry in Vienna and completed an internship in pediatrics at the Vienna General Hospital. In 2001, he was recruited by Dr. Hugo W. Moser as a post-doctoral fellow in Neurogenetics and Neuroimaging research at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. During this initial period at Kennedy Krieger, he received extensive training in leukodystrophies under the mentorship of Drs. Moser, Gerald Raymond and SakkuBai Naidu. He also gained expertise in advanced Magnetic Resonance Imaging techniques. In 2003, he left Kennedy Krieger to train in general pediatrics at SUNY Downstate and then completed a child neurology residency at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School in Boston in June 2008. Dr. Fatemi has returned to the Kennedy Krieger Institute since 2008 as a faculty member. Currently, he is a clinician investigator at The Hugo W. Moser Research Institute at Kennedy Krieger with a joint appointment as an Assistant Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. His work so far has resulted in 19 publications and two book chapters.
Dr. Fatemi’s interest is in disorders that affect white matter development. The long term objective of his research is to study the effect of cell based therapies in these diseases. In the clinic, he evaluates patients with various white matter disorders at the Kennedy Krieger Outpatient Center. On the bench side, he collaborates with a multidisciplinary team of investigators and is studying rodent models for genetic and acquired myelinopathies by combining in-vivo imaging studies, behavioral studies and histological and molecular techniques. He has derived rodent and human glial progenitor cells and plans to investigate the role of these cells in various rodent models.
The Child Neurology Foundation Scientific Award will help Dr. Fatemi conduct a study on the effect of glial precursor cells in neonatal mice with ischemia induced white matter injury. The aim of this study is to assess whether intracerebrally transplanted primary glial precursor cells are able survive, migrate and differentiate in injured animals and improve outcome. The results of this study will offer new insights into glial cell biology and set future directions for cell engineering methods to improve the potency of these cells.
"It is a great honor and a true privilege to be the recipient of this prestigious award. The Child Neurology Foundation Scientific Award will enable me to conduct research in experimental cell based therapy for perinatal white matter injury. Through this project, I am hopeful to gain new insight and expertise in developmental biology and cell engineering methods, and get a step closer to my dream of becoming a successful independent investigator devoted to the care of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities."
