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Simons Foundation Announces Recipients of 2025 Fellows-to-Faculty Awards

Written by Christopher Feldsine

The awards help senior postdoctoral researchers with fresh perspectives on autism and neuroscience transition to tenure-track faculty positions.

Headshots of 2025 Fellows-to-Faculty recipients.

Featuring

The Simons Foundation is pleased to announce the 2025 class of Fellows-to-Faculty Fellows. The nine recipients will be supported through the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) and the Simons Collaboration on Plasticity and the Aging Brain (SCPAB).

“We are excited to welcome these nine talented scientists to our community and to support their innovative approaches to understanding the basic science of autism and cognitive aging,” says Kelsey Martin, executive vice president of autism and neuroscience at the Simons Foundation. “We look forward to the advances they will make, and to following them on their professional journeys.”

The Fellows-to-Faculty program supports talented early-career scientists and their research vision as they transition into tenure-track or equivalent faculty positions in areas of science supported by the Simons Foundation’s Autism and Neuroscience division. The program aims to nurture new talent and broaden the community of scientists contributing to our mission by supporting researchers with a diverse mix of minds, backgrounds and experiences. The program was previously known as the Independence Awards.

Fellows receive funding toward the end of their postdoctoral careers and a $600,000 faculty research grant commitment over three years.

The next Fellows-to-Faculty request for applications will open on Oct 31, 2025. Prospective applicants are encouraged to familiarize themselves with the program information page.

Cheryl Brandenburg, Ph.D.
2025 SFARI Fellow
Baylor College of Medicine
Project: From neural circuits to communication: Unraveling language pathways in autism

Marissa Co, Ph.D.
2025 SFARI Fellow
Oregon Health & Science University
Project: Resolving autism heterogeneity from transcription factor activity to behavioral outcomes

James Jaggard, Ph.D.
2025 SCPAB Fellow
Stanford University
Project: Decoding the role of sleep in healthy aging

Jingwen Li, Ph.D.
2025 SFARI Fellow
University of California, San Diego
Project: Neural underpinnings of visual perception and attention in freely-moving marmosets influenced by E/I balance and autism

Hannah R. Monday, Ph.D.
2025 SFARI Fellow
University of California, Berkeley
Project: Restoring sensory circuit resilience in autism by targeting impaired homeostatic plasticity

Phi Nguyen, Ph.D.
2025 SCPAB Fellow
Columbia University
Project: Unlocking developmental plasticity to rejuvenate the aging brain

Keng Ioi Vong, Ph.D.
2025 SFARI Fellow
University of California, San Diego
Project: Deciphering the cellular basis of ENS-brain neuronal communication and its dysfunction in autism

Melissa Walsh, Ph.D.
2025 SCPAB Fellow
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Project: Neuroplasticity and menopause: Investigating synaptic adaptation and mechanisms of cognitive resilience in midlife women and beyond

Zhilei Zhao, Ph.D.
2025 SFARI Fellow
Cornell University
Project: Neural mechanisms of social communication in parrots

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