We are honored to announce the Live Like Lou Foundation’s 2024 Postdoctoral Fellowship recipients. Gregory Mohl, PhD, from the University of California, San Francisco, and Carlo Scialo, MD, PhD, from the University of Zurich, were each selected to receive $75,000 per yearin direct funding for up to two years to pursue a novel, independent, and promising ALS investigation. This Live Like Lou research grant aims to support scientists in the early stages of postdoctoral training at an R1-level (or equivalent) institutional research laboratory.
“We couldn’t be more pleased with both Postdoctoral Fellowship recipients,” said W.L. Gray, chairman of the Live Like Lou Foundation Board of Trustees. “We are eager to see the outcomes of these awards on the science and Dr. Mohl’s and Dr. Scialo’s careers.”
“The quality of both recipients’ applications was unmatched,” shared Evangelos Kiskinis, PhD, Live Like Lou’s Scientific Director. “The applicants and their mentors both represent exactly what Live Like Lou seeks to fund: investigators with a sustained interest in ALS who will advance the science in the pursuit of treatments or a cure for this disease,” he continued.
Dr. Mohl is a postdoctoral research fellow under Dr. Claire Clelland at the Clelland Lab at UCSF. Dr. Mohl completed his graduate work under Dr. Martin Kampmann at UCSF and is interested in developing therapies for genetic neurodegenerative disorders, specifically ALS.
Dr. Mohl’s Research Project: High throughput CNS lipid nanoparticle discovery platforms for ALS gene editing. This research seeks to determine if CRISPR gene editing in patients with C9orf72 can reverse or prevent ALS from occurring and how to deliver this technology safely to patients.
Dr. Scialo is a postdoctoral fellow under Dr. Magdalini Polymenidou at the University of Zurich. Dr. Scialo completed his residency training as a neurologist at the University of Genova, Italy. He is interested in investigating TDP-43 pathology and identifying therapeutic targets, primarily in ALS and FTD.
Dr. Scialo’s Research Project: Identify modifiers of TDP-43 aggregation uptake, cell-to-cell spreading and loss of function. This research investigates how toxicity increases and the loss of function in TDP-43 progresses through a cellular seeding platform. By unraveling the important link between aggregation and loss of function, the goal is to establish the chronological sequence of these two events.
“Both recipients' work epitomizes our vision to leave ALS better than we found it,” said Live Like Lou Executive Director Wendy Faust. “We’re thrilled to launch the third year of our postdoctoral grants to strengthen our dedication to collaboration, research partnerships, unique instruction, and funding opportunities not otherwise available to emerging ALS investigators.”
In 2022, the Live Like Lou Foundation’s inaugural recipient of the Live Like Lou Postdoctoral Fellowship was Daryl P. Fields, MD, PhD, from the University of Pittsburgh. In 2023, Live Like Lou awarded two Postdoctoral Fellowships: one to Alexander Cammack, PhD, from University College London, and the other to Yifu Han, PhD, from the University of Southern California.
