Jillian Saunders and Julia Dziabis
Second year graduate student Jillian Saunders (Eroglu Lab) and postdoc Julia Dziabis (Scott-Hewitt Lab) have been selected to receive 2026 Duke Institute for Brain Sciences Germinator Awards for their innovative proposals for interdisciplinary research in the brain sciences. Each project will be funded for 1 year at $25,000. Saunders' project will explore how “magic mushrooms” provide rapid, long-lasting antidepressant effects, to develop better treatments for depression and related psychiatric disorders, while Dziabis' project will investigate how viruses hide in neurons to emerge years later and contribute to brain aging and neurodegeneration.
Congratulations, Jillian and Julia!
Read more about the award recipients.