Li-Feng Jiang-Xie, PhD, a postdoctoral research associate in WashU Medicine Department of Pathology and Immunology, has been selected as the winner of the 2024 WashU Medicine Bold Pioneer Award. A ceremony to celebrate the winner will be held Friday, May 2 at 4 p.m. in the Jeffrey T. Fort Neuroscience Research Building Auditorium on the Washington University Medical Campus.
Jiang-Xie, stood out among a highly competitive pool of a large number of applications, and the selection committee was impressed by his cutting-edge findings and unique approach, which was high-risk and impactful. His research focuses on sleep, general anesthesia, and neurodegenerative disorders. His goal is to integrate insights from biological and artificial neural networks to formulate a unified theory of sleep function.
Jetske van der Schaar, research associate at Amsterdam University Medical Center, and Nicolas Barthélemy, PhD, assistant professor at WashU Medicine Department of Neurology, were selected as distinguished finalists for the 2024 WashU Medicine Bold Pioneer Award. Van der Schaar’s research focuses on medical ethical aspects in early stages of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. Barthélemy’s research focuses on developing mass spectrometry-based assays for measuring tau modifications, including phosphorylation, in biofluids (cerebrospinal fluid and blood), with a primary interest on evaluating their potential as biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological disorders.
“Dr. Jiang-Xie’s work exemplified the Bold Pioneer spirit, taking substantial risk with untested approaches and the selection committee is excited to see his research continue to push the boundaries of research. Van der Schaar and Barthélemy both demonstrated outstanding bold and pioneering impacts earning special recognition as Distinguished Finalists.”
Randall Bateman, MD
About the Bold Pioneer Award
The Bold Pioneer Award recognizes and encourages early career investigators who have demonstrated bold, pioneering research that is high-risk by virtue of being fundamentally different from standard approaches.
The winner of the award receives a personal $10,000 cash award, the chance to speak at a recognition ceremony and a medallion. Distinguished finalists receive a personal $2,000 cash award and a plaque.