b'B iosciencerequiresbigthinkersQuesada Tan is one of eight 2024 Boettcher who love to take on challenges. ItInvestigators, biomedical researchers selected attracts innovators and inventorsto receive a total of $2 million in grant funds with a passion for impacting human health.from the Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Thats what drew 2024 Boettcher InvestigatorAwards. The funds support up to three years Andrew Quesada Tan, Ph.D., to biomedicalof independent scientific research. engineering. After discovering the differenceNow marking its 15th year, the Webb-Waring he could make for patients by combiningBiomedical Awards program supports and his interests in engineering, medicine, andretains top scientific talent in Colorado and biology, the former mechanical engineerallows Boettcher Investigators to compete switched fields. for private and federal grants. The programs This led to his current position as an Assistantimpressive track record of success included Professor in the Department of Integrative$21.1 million in federal grant funding received Physiology and Director of the Sensorimotorby Boettcher Investigators in 2023.Recovery and Neuroplasticity Lab at theQuesada Tan is using his Webb-Waring awardIts about University of Colorado Boulder. to research acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH),restoring Improving Quality of Life a promising intervention involving moderate Quesada Tans lab focuses on reversing theexposure to low oxygen levels. The treatmentindependence effects of paralysis and improving motorhas potential to speed up recovery time for control in individuals with spinal cord injuries.patients, supporting improvements in walkingand improving According to the National Institute of Health,speed, endurance, and motor functions. around 282,000 people in the United StatesItsaboutrestoringindependenceandquality of life.are currently living with a spinal cord injury.improving quality of life, said Quesada Tan. For a patient with this kind of traumatic injury,The more we can help them [patients with aANDREW QUESADA TAN, Ph.D. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT even the smallest, slightest improvementsspinal cord injury] restore independence andOF INTEGRATIVE PHYSIOLOGY during recovery can have significant, life-al- mobility, the more integrated in society theyDIRECTOR OF THE SENSORIMOTOR RECOVERY AND NEUROPLASTICITY LABtering impacts. can become.CU BOULDERAndrew Quesada Tan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Integrative Physiology Director of the Sensorimotor Recovery and Neuroplasticity Lab, CU Boulder2024-2025 BIOSCIENCE COLORADO 41'