Thomas Jefferson University has announced the recipients of the 2025-2026 Sidney Kimmel Medical College Bridge Funding Awards.
These awards work to ensure that the University’s highly successful and well-recognized faculty members with strong track records in their respective fields are sustained as they pursue and secure research funding from federal entities and other sponsors.
Jefferson will fund 12 of the 18 proposals submitted during this cycle of this competitive internal award. Grants range from $25,000 to $100,000 to maximize the program’s support and are limited to the expenses necessary to sustain the viability of productive or promising research programs and units.
Each recipient will receive a one-year grant from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026.
“Please join me in congratulating these outstanding Sidney Kimmel Medical College faculty members,” says Said A. Ibrahim, MD, MPH, MBA, the Anthony F. and Gertrude M. DePalma Dean of Sidney Kimmel Medical College.
The winning researchers include:
Hien Dang, PhD
J. Wallace Davis and Gail G. Davis Assistant Professor of Surgery, Department of Surgery
Project Title: Phase Separation as a Driver of HCC
Gudrun Debes, DVM
Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Project Title: The Role of Secreted IgM in IL-10 Expression Programming in B Cells
Kyunghee Koh, PhD
Professor, Department of Neuroscience
Project Title: Methylation and Innate Immunity Mechanisms in C9orf72-FTD/ALS
Peisong Ma, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
Project Title: GRK5 Regulation of GPCR Signaling in Platelets
Adriana Mantegazza, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Project Title: Molecular Mechanisms of Activation of Dendritic Cells by Lipid-Based Vaccine Adjuvants
M. Paula Martinez Cantarin, MD
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
Project Title: Macrophage CX3CR1 Inhibition and Renal Tubulointerstitial Disease
Timothy J. Mosca, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Neuroscience
Project Title: Pre- and Postsynaptic Effector Mechanisms in Synaptic Maturation and Dementia
Ulhas P. Naik, PhD
Professor, Department of Medicine
Project Title: Platelet ASK1 and Host Response to Bacterial Pathogens
Holly Ramage, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Project Title: Understanding the Mechanisms Regulating Tick-Borne Orthoflavivirus Infection
Jianxin Sun, PhD
Professor, Department of Medicine
Project Title: Role of isoAsp-induced Protein Damage in Diabetic Angiogenesis
Ryan Tomlinson, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery
Project Title: Skeletal Innervation in Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Mudit Tyagi, PhD
Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
Project Title: DNA-PK Role in Regulating Neuro-HIV and Reservoir in the Context of Cocaine Use