FBI Research Scholars Program: An Enduring Partnership With Philanthropy

The program, which was founded in 2016, allows investigators across the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai to explore some of the boldest ideas in brain science. Recipients are early and mid-career researchers who seek to form new collaborations with colleagues in other disciplines, and senior scientists eager to undertake a project outside of their usual areas of investigation.

Projects are designed with a goal of generating the preliminary data needed to secure external funding from the National Institutes of Health or other sources.

Virtually all Scholars have published their work, influencing their respective research fields. Close to two-thirds have secured additional funding after this initial support. Each project selected is extraordinarily collaborative and has the potential to reveal novel insights.

The 2025 projects are focused on personalizing treatments for patients with the goal to improve outcomes more rapidly—for example, examining communication between the brain and the heart; investigating the impact of sleep on postpartum depression and anxiety; exploring new treatments for schizophrenia; finding ways to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease earlier; and studying how sleep patterns can affect caregiving.

The donors are: Joseph DiSabato and Nancy Sakamoto, Michael and Beth Fascitelli, Richard and Susan Friedman, Stuart Katz and Dr. Jane Martin, Joshua and Beth Nash, Ram Sundaram and Preethi Krishna, the Glickenhaus Family, and the Lipschultz Family.

Scroll below to meet our Scholars and watch short videos of their projects.

Also, see how donor support drives innovation in neuroscience and beyond here.

Ram Sundaram and Preethi Krishna Research Scholar Award

Abha K. Rajbhandari, PhD; and Filip Swirski, PhD

Delineating the role of a brain to heart pathway in stress-related behavioral and cardiac function.