Research Challenge Award Winner 2024: Dr Godber Mathis Godbersen
We are delighted to announce that Dr Godber Mathis Godbersen has been awarded the Brainbox Initiative Research Challenge Award 2024 for his promising research proposal regarding Absolute Quantification of Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation using Functional PET Imaging.
For 2024, our Scientific Committee has chosen to support Dr Godber Mathis Godbersen’s work at the Medical University of Vienna on establishing an absolutely quantifiable molecular marker for neuromodulatory effects of Transcranial Ultrasound Stimulation (TUS), for “tuning” of sonication parameters in an informed and controlled way.
The research is aiming to benefit the field by establishing the cerebral metabolic rate of glucose as an objective marker for stimulation specific effects. This may enable practitioners to find adequate dosing for TUS interventions in patient collectives in the future.
The proposed project has been awarded by the Austrian Academy of Sciences with the competitive “Disruptive Innovation” seed money grant and the positive vote from the Medical University’s Ethics Committee. The only element holding up the realisation of the study was the lack of appropriate equipment - to establish the objective marker, the lab will need the NeuroFUS PRO system for Transcranial-Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation (TUS/tFUS).
The Brainbox Initiative believe this research will contribute some fantastic work to the ever-growing field of transcranial focused ultrasound neuromodulation research. We would like to extend our congratulations to Dr Godber Mathis Godbersen, and we are very much looking forward to working with him to make this planned research a reality throughout the coming months.
Established in 2016, the Brainbox Initiative Research Challenge aims to help early-mid career neuroscientists with the most ambitious research proposals gain crucial access to the non-invasive brain stimulation and imaging equipment and training that they need to make their plans a reality. The Research Challenge award provides our winners with a three-month loan of specialist neuroscience equipment to complete their study; ongoing technical support and guidance throughout this period; and additional financial support to help make the study possible.