Updated October 2024
The Charles A. King Trust Fellowship Program has announced the selection of the 2024 cohort of Research Fellows. Each fellow will receive two years of funding for research that focuses on the causes of human disease and improved treatment methodologies. Congratulations to all of the awardees!
Scroll to see the 2022 awardees.
About the Trust
Established in 1936, the Charles A. King Trust was created to support and promote the investigation of human disease and the alleviation of human suffering through improved treatment. Other contributors, including the Sara Elizabeth O’Brien Trust and Simeon J. Fortin Charitable Foundation, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee, and the Bushrod H. Campbell and Adah F. Hall Charity Fund have joined the Charles A. King Trust, Melissa MacGillivray Dane and Susan Monahan, Co-Trustees, in supporting the King Trust Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program. The Medical Foundation at Health Resources in Action (HRiA), a non-profit organization in Boston that advances public health and medical research, administers the program on behalf of the Funders.
The Charles A. King Trust Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Program is designed to support postdoctoral fellows and physician-scientists in the mid to late stages of their research training within the state of Massachusetts. The program provides vital support to prepare postdoctoral fellows for academic careers as successful independent investigators in biomedical research through two separate grant programs focused on (1) basic science and (2) clinical and health services research.
More information on the program can be found at: hria.org/tmf/king. Sign up for notifications here. Questions can be emailed to KingAwards@hria.org.
2024 Charles A. King Trust Research Fellows
Paolo Cadinu, PhD
Boston Children’s Hospital
Mentor : Jeffrey Moffitt, Ph.D.
Mapping the Fate of Fibroblasts Across the Inflamed and Healing Gut
Dr. Cadinu’s research focuses on understanding how fibroblasts, traditionally seen as cells that maintain the structural integrity of organs, dynamically change their configurations and activate cellular programs that drive tissue repair in inflammatory gut disorders. Gaining insights into the activation and reprogramming of fibroblasts will lay the groundwork for discovering novel drugs aimed at modulating their activity, which could potentially enhance tissue repair across a broad spectrum of chronic inflammatory diseases, ranging from Crohn’s disease to rheumatoid arthritis. Using an innovative genomic-based microscopy technique applied to mouse models of colitis, Dr. Cadinu will map fibroblast states and the programs they activate or suppress, as well as the cells they closely interact with, across various stages of disease.
Nuria Dominguez Iturza, PhD
Harvard University
Mentor: Paola Arlotta, PhD
Molecular Mechanisms Governing Myelin Development in the Mammalian Neocortex
Dr. Dominguez Iturza’s work will uncover how neurons get myelinated in the mammalian cerebral cortex. Cells of the nervous system are myelinated, or wrapped in a fatty substance so they are insulated and can transmit information faster and more efficiently. Understanding mechanisms of myelination is important because myelin defects are a hallmark of many neurological diseases; however, understanding of the mechanisms driving myelination remains very limited. Dr. Dominguez Iturza will work to improve this knowledge gap by identifying signals that neurons utilize to communicate with oligodendrocytes, the brain cells responsible for myelination, to dictate myelination diversity in the cerebral cortex.
Lauren Kearney, MD
Boston University
Mentor: Renda Soylemez Wiener, MD, MPH
Co-Design and Pilot Testing of Community Health Worker Training and Support to Improve Access to High-Quality Smoking Cessation Treatment
Dr. Kearney’s work aims to understand how we can reduce disparities and improve outcomes in smoking-related lung disease. The low rates of smoking cessation, especially in marginalized communities, highlight the pressing need to bolster healthcare capacity and tailor interventions, recognizing smoking as a primary contributor to preventable morbidity and mortality. Dr. Kearney will co-design a program to train and support community health workers to integrate smoking cessation into their current activities and to establish the feasibility and acceptability of the program through pilot testing.
Sander Lambo, Dr. rer. nat.
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Mentor: Volker Hovestadt, PhD
Dissecting the Cellular Hierarchies within Embryonal Tumors with Multilayered Rosettes
Dr. Lambo’s work aims to understand the different cell types are that are found within a rare pediatric brain tumor called Embryonal Tumors with Multilayered Rosettes (ETMRs), and understand which cells are important for a tumor to grow back after treatment. This matters because treatment of ETMR patients currently often fails, likely because there are cells that can grow back after treatment and form a new tumor. Dr. Lambo’s work will identify the different cells within an ETMR tumor and the characteristics of those cells and will identify which cells within the tumor can re-form a new tumor in order to find new ways to eradicate these cells.
Zheqi Li, PhD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Mentor: Kornelia Polyak, MD, PhD
The Role of Histone Cleavage in Breast Cancer
Dr. Li’s proposed research will investigate how alterations in histones, proteins that package DNA, and enzymes that modify histones like KDM4C, contribute to triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) development. This is important because TNBC is a subtype of breast cancer that is extremely difficult to treat due to its variation among patients. Hence, new discovery on how it occurs will help to design more efficient and tailored therapy to treat these patients. Dr. Li’s study focuses on understanding why histones can be cut during tumor development and how much this process contributes to TNBC, by using both cell models and patient samples.
Ying Liu, PhD
Harvard Medical School
Mentor: Norbert Perrimon, PhD
Characterization of the Pathogenic Mechanisms of Cancer Cachexia using Drosophila as a Model
Dr. Liu’s research aims to deepen understanding of the causes behind cancer cachexia, a condition that causes significant weight and muscle loss. This is crucial because cachexia is a significant factor contributing to mortality among cancer patients. To address this question, Dr. Liu’s research employs a Drosophila (fruit fly) model of cancer cachexia to unravel the mechanisms through which tumors induce dysfunction in host organs.
Uriel Lopez-Sanchez, PhD
Boston Children’s Hospital
Mentor : Timothy Alan Springer, PhD
Structural Mechanism of the Rolling Adhesion Activity of Integrins α4β1 and α4β7
Dr. Lopez-Sanchez’s work aims to answer the question of how integrins, a family of proteins that exist on the cell surface to transmit signals internally, change shape and how these changes relate to their function in controlling the migration of immune cells. This matters because understanding the shape changes that the α4β1 and α4β7 integrins undergo during cell migration will enable the development of better therapeutics for the treatment of inflammatory diseases. This project will address this question by integrating structural and functional studies, which will involve the utilization of powerful imaging techniques such as Cryogenic Electron Microscopy (Cryo-EM).
Christopher Vassallo, PhD
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mentor: Michael Laub, PhD
Mechanism and Viral Subversion of a Novel Antiviral Enzyme
Dr. Vassallo’s research aims to uncover what mechanisms bacteria use to fight viruses and how viruses overcome this immunity. This is important because knowledge concerning the interplay between bacterial viruses and their hosts can be used in the development of therapeutic treatments. This project investigates the mechanism of a novel enzyme used by bacteria to fight viruses and a viral counter-defense protein, the study of which will uncover fundamental insights into this molecular arms race between bacteria and their viruses.
Aaron Warren, PhD, MSc
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Mentor: John Rolston, MD, PhD
Deep Brain Stimulation to Treat Disorders of Consciousness
Dr. Warren’s will work to enhance the efficacy of a stimulating device that is surgically implanted into the brain to help patients “wake up” from coma-like states called disorders of consciousness (DoC), which result from injuries to the brain. This matters because DoC represent a significant, unresolved challenge in medicine, profoundly affecting individuals, families, and healthcare systems, with no effective treatments currently available. Using advanced imaging and brain network analyses, Dr. Warren will pinpoint the most effective spot in the brain to place the stimulation device, identify which brain connections need to be activated for the treatment to work, and determine which patients are most likely to benefit based on their brain scans before surgery.
Caleb Weinreb, PhD
Harvard Medical School
Mentor: Sandeep Robert Datta, Ph.D.
Influence of Cortical Dopamine on the Structure of Natural Behavior
Dr. Weinreb aims to understand how dopamine signaling in prefrontal cortex enables behavior under natural conditions. This matters because alterations in cortical dopamine signaling underlie a vast range of psychiatric diseases, including schizophrenia and depression, and understanding how this system operates under natural conditions is a fundamental step toward rational treatment and improvement of therapeutics. Using a novel approach of observing mice freely exploring their surroundings, and pairing detailed behavior measurements with recording and manipulation of dopamine in prefrontal cortex, Dr. Weinreb’s work will reveal how dopamine release impacts ongoing behavior.
2022 Charles A. King Trust Research Fellows
Khashayar Afshari, MD, MPH
University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School
Mentor: Mehdi Rashighi, MD
Roles of cutaneous T peripheral helper cells as a marker for photosensitivity and disease activity in dermatomyositis
Dr. Afshari will seek to define the underlying mechanisms of photosensitivity and disease pathogenesis in patients with cutaneous Dermatomyositis (DM), an autoimmune disease characterized by skin rash and muscle weakness. Additionally, studies will aim to dissect how skin epithelial and immune cells in DM respond to ultraviolet B exposure and explore novel specific disease markers with potency to be used as therapeutic targets.
Christiano Alves, PhD
Massachusetts General Hospital
Mentor: Benjamin Kleinstiver, PhD
Development of CRISPR-based genetic cures for spinal muscular atrophy
Dr. Alves will work towards developing strategies to permanently edit the Survival Motor Neuron 2 (SMN2) gene through a one-time CRISPR-based genetic treatment. Success of this project will provide demonstration for the use of CRISPR technologies as a future treatment for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), the leading genetic cause of infantile death worldwide.
Arturo Arrona-Palacios, PhD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Mentor: Charles Czeisler, PhD, MD
Project Title: Development of a proteomic biomarker for human circadian timing
Dr. Arrona-Palacios plans to develop and validate a method for measuring internal biological timing in humans. The goal for this project is to develop a robust diagnostic biomarker for circadian timing to improve diagnosis and treatment for patients with circadian rhythm disorders and sleep pathologies and improve personalized medicine.
Simona Ceglia, PhD
University of Massachusetts Medical School
Mentor: Andrea Reboldi, PhD
A cholesterol byproduct imprints kidney immuno-metabolism in health and disease
Dr. Ceglia will advance our understanding of glomerulonephritis development by investigating the molecular mechanisms underpinning oxysterol production and function in the kidneys. This work may also lead to the identification of oxysterol regulation as a new target for prevention and treatment of IgA nephropathy.
Stephen Chong, PhD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Mentor: Matthew Davids, MD, MMSc
Targeting the phosphorylation Of Bcl-2 family members in venetoclax-resistant lymphoid malignancies
Dr. Chong will determine if lymphoid malignant cells have enhanced phosphorylation of the anti-apoptotic proteins Bcl-2 and Mcl-1 and will test if this modification is the cause of resistance of the FDA-approved drug venetoclax in chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Alicia Darnell, PhD
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mentor: Matthew Vander Heiden, MD PhD
Metabolic control of protein synthesis by ribosome stalling
Dr. Darnell will determine the factors that regulate ribosome stalling, which has been linked to neurodegeneration, cancer metastasis, and tumor innervation. This proposal will determine factors that regulate ribosome stalling upon amino acid starvation and identify the consequences of this metabolic form of translational control.
Sunny Das, PhD
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research
Mentor: Robert Weinberg, PhD
Molecular mechanisms of metastatic colonization of the liver by dormant breast cancer cells
Dr. Das will study the transition of disseminated breast cancer cells from dormancy to colonization in the liver which will be further compared with patient datasets to identify potential pharmacological targets. The goal of this work is to ultimately develop anti-metastatic therapies and increase progression free- and overall survival in breast cancer patients.
Ryan Delgado, MD, PhD
Harvard Medical School
Mentor: Constance Cepko, PhD
The role of lineage in the temporospatial genesis of retinal bipolar cell subtypes
Dr. Delgado will improve our understanding of retinal development by optimizing and using an “evolvable” lineage tracer he has developed called SCRIBE (Sequential Combinatorial Recorder for Iterative Barcode Evolution) to record patterns of cell division in developing tissue including the retina and determining whether these patterns might underlie proper retinal development.
Ying Dong, PhD
Boston Children’s Hospital
Mentor: Hao Wu, PhD
Mechanistic elucidation of the B cell receptor (BCR) signaling complex by cryo-EM
Dr. Dong will elucidate the structural assembly of the B cell receptor complex in different conformational states by cryo-electron microscopy and validate the structure using mutagenesis and cell biology. This work will not only provide new insights into B cell signal transduction, but also afford novel therapeutic strategies for the precise treatment of B-cell related diseases.
Deli Hong, PhD
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Mentor: Matthew Oser, MD, PhD
Dissecting and therapeutically exploiting synthetic lethality between NOTCH and TRIM28 to drive anti-tumor immunity in SCLC
Dr. Hong will study mechanisms underlying NOTCH/TRIM28 synthetic lethality to identify new combination therapeutic strategies to increase immune checkpoint blockade response in small cell lung cancer using genetically engineered mouse models and derived cell lines. If successful, the proposed research could lay the preclinical foundation for a novel therapeutic strategy for the approximately 25% of small cell lung cancer patients that harbor loss-of-function NOTCH mutations.
Hui Si Kwok, PhD
Harvard University
Mentor: Brian Liau, PhD
Understanding polycomb repressive complex 2 function and dependencies in EZH2-mutant lymphoma using drug addiction alleles
Dr. Kwok will leverage drug resistance and addiction mutations as discovery tools to gain critical understanding into the biology of Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2), provide insight into how other PRC2 cancer mutations might likewise operate, and identify new cancer vulnerabilities.
Ding Liu, PhD
Harvard University
Mentor: Catherine Dulac, PhD
Molecular, circuit and sensory control of the instinctive need for social interactions
Dr. Liu aims to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying social need. Using cutting edge single-cell RNA sequencing, viral tracing, and optogenetic and behavioral assays, this work will assess and compare the molecular, neural circuit, and sensory characteristics across mouse strains to deepen the understanding of the neural basis of social need and provide new insights into the treatment of social isolation induced mental disorders.
Ane Martin Anduaga, PhD
Brandeis University
Mentor: Sebastian Kadener, PhD
Elucidating the role of timeless thermosensitive alternative splicing in temperature compensation
Dr. Martin Anduaga will elucidate the mechanisms by which temperature compensation of the circadian clock is achieved in eukaryotes. Using molecular and genetic approaches the current proposal seeks to examine this mechanism through determining the contribution of the thermosensitively-regulated isoform of the gene timeless (TIMCOLD) and three TIM isoforms of this locus in temperature compensation.
Tadasu Nozaki, PhD
Harvard University
Mentor: Nancy Kleckner, PhD
Molecular and physical mechanisms of homolog pairing in meiotic budding yeast
Dr. Nozaki will study how meiotic chromosomal homolog pairing occurs to further inform how failures in pairing lead to aneuploidy or genetic diseases. Utilizing an imaging technology that enables 4D tracking, this work will elucidate the molecular mechanisms of a new process called rapid homolog juxtaposition and the basis and relationship between intra-chromosomal synchrony and longitudinal compaction.
Sneha Rath, PhD
Massachusetts General Hospital
Mentor: Vamsi Mootha, MD
A systems approach to discover sensors and regulators of mitochondrial genome ploidy
Dr. Rath will leverage bioenergetics, high-throughput genetics, and systems approaches to gain fundamental insight into how cells couple their fitness to mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) abundance and regulate their mtDNA copy number. This work has the potential to illuminate new therapeutic targets and accelerate our search for treatments of both inherited and age-associated mtDNA depletion.
Stefanie Schmieder, PhD
Boston Children’s Hospital
Mentor: Wayne I. Lencer, MD
A multiscale approach to study the role of sphingolipids in plasma membrane function and as sensors in innate host defense
Dr. Schmieder will define how nanodomains in epithelial plasma membranes can transmit signals and elucidate how epithelial cells adapt nanodomain function to defend against pathogen invasion at the host-environment interface using a unique structural lipid library in combination with a high-throughput screen. This project will improve understanding of how microbial danger can be innately sensed by plasma membrane dysfunction and transmitted to induce a protective response.
Rajae Talbi, PhD
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Mentor: Victor Navarro, PhD
Deciphering the female-specific hypothalamic pathway underlying the metabolic regulation of fertility by the melanocortin receptor 4
Dr. Talbi will study reproductive impairment and characterize a novel sex-dependent hypothalamic pathway in the metabolic control of ovulation by melanocortins using genetic mouse models, viral/pharmacological approaches, and neuroscience techniques. Results from this study will offer new insight and lead to significant clinical improvement of fertility in patients with metabolic disorders.
Ana Uzquiano Lopez, PhD
Harvard University
Mentor: Paola Arlotta, PhD
Mechanisms governing neuronal population size and identity in the human brain
Dr. Uzquiano Lopez will leverage stem cell-derived brain organoids and genetic tools to investigate how the relative proportions of different neuronal populations are established in the cortex, and to discover the mechanisms that contribute to callosal projection neuron expansion and diversification. This work will shed light on fundamental processes underlying human cerebral cortex assembly, which has enabled major evolutionary adaptations of the human brain.
Xiaozhe Xiong, PhD
Boston Children’s Hospital
Mentor: Min Dong, PhD
Insight into a novel enterococcus pore-forming toxin family
Dr. Xiong will study the colonization and pathogenesis of Enterococcus by determining whether the uncharacterized family of Enterococcus pore-forming toxins (Epx) are active toxins specifically targeting human cells, what their host factors are, and explore the physiological functions of Epxs during the pathogenesis process using structural analysis of Epxs, genome-wide CRISPRCas9 screens, and animal infection models.
Xingjie Zhang, PhD
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center / Harvard Medical School
Mentor: Mark Andermann, PhD
Competing effects of AgRP and POMC neurons on cAMP signaling in downstream neurons in vivo
Dr. Zhang will apply a recently developed molecular and optical toolset to monitor and manipulate biochemical signaling pathways in mice to understand the how neurons use peptides to communicate with downstream circuits and process hunger and satiety signals. Insights from this work will help fill a substantial knowledge gap in developing treatments for obesity.
Yang Zhang, PhD
Joslin Diabetes Center
Mentor: Yu-Hua Tseng, PhD
Histone variant H2A.Z-mediated chromatin organization regulates brown adipocyte thermogenic function
Dr. Zhang will study how the histone variant H2A.Z regulates thermogenic gene expression and controls brown adipose tissue activity in human and mouse models. This work has the potential to pave the way for development of new therapeutic approaches to enhance the activity of thermogenic adipocytes to combat obesity and related metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
