CurePSP Student Fellowships support students and trainees conducting summer research projects focused on PSP or CBD. The goal of these programs is to encourage trainees to pursue research in this field in an effort to make PSP and CBD a long-term area of research interest and to further our understanding of these diseases.
Application instructions and full eligibility guidelines for the Urso Student Fellowship and the Jim Atwood Neuroscience Student Fellowship are available here. The program will begin accepting applications on October 1, and applications must be submitted through ProposalCentral by January 31, 2026, at 5pm ET.
The URSO Student Fellowship supports students conducting summer research projects focused on PSP, CBD, and related diseases. This program is supported by the Paul and Ruth Urso Memorial Research Fund. The goal of this fellowship program is to encourage students and trainees to pursue research in this field in the hope of making PSP or CBD a long-term area of research interest.. Projects may be in basic, translational, clinical or epidemiological aspects of PSP and CBD.
Program Eligibility
Undergraduate, graduate, and medical students are eligible – as well as medical residents and clinical fellows. Postdoctoral fellows are not eligible for this program. The research must be performed under the supervision of a faculty mentor with expertise in the field. Funds may be budgeted to cover the applicant’s stipend and research related expenses. 
Application Instructions
Previously Funded Urso Grants
    
         
             
                
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: John Crary 
Exploring Glial Dysfunction and Genetic Pathways in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy
                             
                         
                     
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Ignacio Mata
Exploring the genomic data of PSP-CBD patients from Argentina
                             
                         
                     
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Truman Gamblin 
Impact of Fatty Acid Induction on Formation of PSP and CBD Tau Aggregates
                             
                         
                     
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Guy Schwartz 
The Radiographic Overlap between Parkinsonian Syndromes and Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus: A Retrospective Chart Review
                             
                         
                     
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Truman Gamblin 
Cracking the phosphorylation code of tau filaments in PSP
                             
                         
                     
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Tamar Gefen 
Differential Vulnerability of White Matter in CBD versus PSP leading to Primary Progressive Aphasia
                             
                         
                     
                      
                 
             
         
     
    
         
             
                
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Naomi Visanji
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy: a disease specific mouse tauopathy model 
                             
                         
                     
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Stewart Clark
Investigation of the role of non-cholinergic PPTg neurons in a model of PSP 
                             
                         
                     
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Jonathan Lin
Testing Anti-Tau Properties of Integrated Stress Response Boosters In Vivo 
                             
                         
                     
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Rohan de Silva
Identifying conformational repertoires of tau that determine disease progression
                             
                         
                     
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Marco Hefti
Understanding Astrocytic Tau Uptake in PSP
                             
                         
                     
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Kevin Frank Bieniek
Exploring Increased Expression of DNA Damage Marker Expression in CBD and PSP
                             
                         
                     
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Kathryn Bowles
Investigating ER-phagy in an iPSC-neuron model of tauopathy
                             
                         
                     
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Tamar Geffen
Anatomic Selectivity of 4R FTLD-tau in Primary Progressive Aphasia
                             
                         
                     
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Hrishikesh Kumar
Blood Biomarkers and Neuromorphometry in Progressive Supranuclear Palsy
                             
                         
                     
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Zane Jaunmuktane
Identification of spatially resolved and cell type specific molecular signatures in diverse PSP phenotypes
                             
                         
                     
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Paul Seidler
Small molecule inhibitor development for CBD and PSP tau by experimental-computational studies
                             
                         
                     
                      
                 
             
         
     
The Jim Atwood Neuroscience Student Fellowship
The Jim Atwood Neuroscience Student Fellowship Endowment supports undergraduate students conducting summer research projects focused on PSP or CBD. The goal of this fellowship program is to encourage undergraduate students to pursue research in this field in an effort to make PSP and CBD a long-term area of research interest and to further our understanding of these diseases. In addition, their important work will aid in increasing the awareness of these rare neurodegenerative diseases with the end goal of a cure. Fellowship projects should have a neuroscience focus and may be in basic, translational, or clinical aspects of PSP or CBD.
Program Eligibility
Undergraduate students are eligible. The research must be performed under the supervision of a faculty mentor with expertise in the field. Funds may be budgeted to cover the applicant’s stipend and research related expenses. 
Application Instructions
Currently Funded Atwood Grants
    
         
             
                
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Stewart Clark 
Establishing a time course for the decrease in the Midbrain-to-Pons Ratio in hTau rats as a Potential Early Biomarker for Progressive Supranuclear Palsy-Richardson’s Syndrome
                             
                         
                     
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Jonathan Pierce 
Genetic Supressors of Freezing in Dopamine-deficient C. elegans: Potential Therapeutic Targets for PSP and CBD
                             
                         
                     
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Joseph Rayman 
Purification and Biophysical Screening of Proteins Implicated in PSP
                             
                         
                     
                      
                 
             
         
     
 Previously Funded Jim Atwood Neuroscience Student Fellowships
    
         
             
                
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Joseph Rayman 
In Vitro Biophysical Screen for Inhibitors of Proteins Implicated in PSP
                             
                         
                     
                     
                    
                        
                        
                            
                                Mentor: Carolina Alquezar
Exploring the Impact of Tau Isoforms on Mitochondrial Function: Implications for 4R tauopathies such as PSP and CBD