SPARK NS Selects Nine Projects to Receive in Total Up to $18 Million in Funding to Advance Academic Discoveries in Autism and Parkinson’s Disease from the Lab to the Clinic

MENLO PARK, Calif., Feb. 25, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SPARK NS today announced the nine projects and principal investigators selected for the SPARK NS Translational Research Program, 2026 Cohort. The projects focus on therapeutics for autism and Parkinson’s disease and are based in academic and nonprofit research institutions in the US, UK, and Europe. Participation in the program lasts two years during which each project is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000 1 in milestone-based funding.

The SPARK NS Translational Research Program is based on an unconventional and proven model of translational research with an exceptional 50% 2 success rate at guiding discoveries from the lab to the clinic. In addition to funding, research teams get ongoing advice from 90+ industry expert advisors; in-person and online education in drug development and translational research; participation in a collaborative community where they can share ideas and resources and learn from experts; and post-program support to help them bridge to later stages of the drug development process.

“As an academic with a potential therapeutic I learned years ago that drug development is difficult, takes a long time, and is very expensive,” said Daria Mochly-Rosen, PhD, a SPARK NS Board Director and Chief Science and Education Advisor. “I also realized that most academic researchers lack the expertise and know-how to overcome the many obstacles on the path to commercialization of even the most promising discoveries. At SPARK NS, we provide funding. We also bring a high level of support and accountability to the process that most academic researchers have never experienced. The combination improves the odds that promising therapeutics will make it to market where they can directly benefit patients.”

Combined with eight projects selected for the 2025 Cohort and five projects selected for the 2024 Cohort, the addition of nine new projects brings the total number participating in the SPARK NS program to 22. Collectively, the 22 projects are eligible for up to $44 million in funding. See information on all 22 projects currently participating in the SPARK NS program.

SPARK NS will release a Call for Proposals for the 2027 Cohort of the program in March 2026. For the 2027 Cohort, SPARK NS will accept applications from principal investigators in the US, Canada, UK, and Europe with projects focused on autism and Parkinson’s disease. The cohort will launch in January 2027. Sign up for updates.

The nine projects and principal investigators selected for the 2026 Cohort are:

Targeting Neuroinflammation for Parkinson's Disease

Veerle Baekelandt, PhD, Professor, Head of Laboratory for Neurobiology and Gene Therapy, KU Leuven

Bio: https://gbiomed.kuleuven.be/english/research/50000666/50488974

A Therapeutic for Shank3-related Autism (PMS)

Tobias M. Boeckers, MD

Professor, Head of the Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Ulm University; Group Leader, Translational Protein Biochemistry, DZNE, Ulm Site

Bio: https://www.dzne.de/en/research/research-areas/clinical-research/research-groups/boeckers/curriculum-vitae/

RNA Targeted Small Molecule Therapeutics for Autism

Joseph D. Buxbaum, PhD

Professor, Psychiatry, Genetics, Genomic Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Bio: https://labs.icahn.mssm.edu/buxbaum-lab/#:~:text=Joseph%20D.%20Buxbaum%2C%20PhD%20is,of%20the%20Department%20of%20Psychiatry

Targeting Neuroinflammation for the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease

Pamela M. England, PhD

Professor, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, University of California, San Francisco

Bio: https://pharm.ucsf.edu/england

Targeting Lipid Metabolism for the Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease

Saranna Fanning, PhD

Assistant Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s Hospital

Bio: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarannafanning/

Modulating GABAergic Transmission for the Treatment of Autism

Antonio Hardan, MD

Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford Medicine, Stanford University

Bio: https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/antonio-hardan#bio

A Human Genetics-driven Approach for Disease Modification in Parkinson's Disease

Michael Johnson, DPhil, FRACP, FRCP

Professor of Neurology and Genomic Medicine, Department of Brain Sciences, Imperial College London

Bio: https://profiles.imperial.ac.uk/m.johnson

Enhancing the Autophagic-Lysosomal Pathway in Parkinson's Disease

Joseph R. Mazzulli, PhD

Dimitri Kranic Professor of Neurology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Bio: https://labs.feinberg.northwestern.edu/mazzulli/index.html

Gene Therapy Targeting CTNNB1-linked Autism

Špela Miroševič, PhD, Founding President, CTNNB1 Foundation

Bio: https://ctnnb1-foundation.org

About SPARK NS

SPARK NS is an independent nonprofit translational research organization founded in 2023 to more effectively advance promising academic discoveries in neuroscience from the lab to the clinic. Through its ongoing translational research program, SPARK NS provides academic researchers with up to $2,000,000 in milestone-based funding; ongoing advice from 90+ industry expert advisors; in-person and online education in drug development and translational research; participation in a collaborative community; and post-program support. This high-level of support eliminates barriers that slow or prevent promising discoveries from directly benefiting patients. Learn more about SPARK NS and our program on our website www.sparkns.org and follow us on LinkedIn.

1Not all funds awarded go directly to PIs’ laboratories. For example, work done by vetted research organizations or academic research facilities is paid for by SPARK NS directly to the organizations from awarded funds.

2Kim, J.S., Kargotich, S., Lee, S.H. et al. SPARKing academic technologies across the valley of death. Nature Biotechnology 42, 339-342 (2024).

Media Contact For SPARK NS

Susan Thomas, Communications Advisor

media@sparkns.org