b'in cerebellar development, particularly in early2025 CLASS OFlife, may dramatically increase autism risk.BOETTCHER INVESTIGATORSVaagaslabstudiesthecommunication between two critical brain regions: PurkinjeThe 2025 Class of Boettcher Investigators are advancing research cells in the cerebellar cortex and cerebellarin osteoarthritis, autism spectrum disorder, insulin-producing nuclear cells. While the former has beencells, type 2 diabetes, cancer and autoimmune diseases, and well-studied, the latter remains largelydevelopmental and neurological disorders at Colorado State uncharted. His team is blazing the trail inUniversity, University of Colorado Boulder, and University of exploring how synaptic development inColorado Anschutz Medical Campus.this understudied area might contribute to autism spectrum disorders. COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITYUsing slice electrophysiology, Vaaga and hisLynn Pezzanite, D.V.M., Ph.D., Translational Medicine team record electrical signals from individualInstitute, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences | Role of autoantibodies to joint cellular antigens neurons in mice with genetic or environmentalin osteoarthritis progression. risk factors for autism. Were trying to understand how early changesChristopher Vaaga, Ph.D., Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical in circuit formation lead to long-term behav- Sciences | Cerebellar synaptic dysfunction in autism ioral differences, says Vaaga. Vaaga sees hisspectrum disorders. work as a bridge between cellular neurosci-ence and patient care. If we can understand how the cerebellum sets up the brainsUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO ANSCHUTZ MEDICAL CAMPUSinternal models of the world, we can betterErin K. Englund, Ph.D., Department of Radiology, grasp why those models sometimes misalignUniversity of Colorado School of Medicine | Structural in autism, and maybe, someday, help adjustand functional evaluation of skeletal muscle in type 2 diabetes with advanced, quantitative MRI. them, he said. Anna Helena Jonsson, M.D., Ph.D., Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine | Determining Early Funding Supportsthe pathogenic roles of granzyme K + CD8 T cells Lasting Breakthroughs unexpectedly expanded in rheumatoid arthritissynovium and other diseased tissues. Both Nguyen and Vaaga emphasize how crucial early-career support is for launchingYunsik Kang, Ph.D., Department of Cell and ambitious, high-impact research. For them,Developmental Biology | Mechanisms of tweek-mediated Boettchers investment provided not justlipid transfer during astrocyte phagocytosis. funding, but the freedom to explore boldAlexandra Nguyen, Ph.D., Department of Cellscientific questions and build momentum inand Developmental Biology | Uncovering thetheir new labs. molecular mechanisms of Cohesin regulation inDNA repair and disease. Vaaga adds that the timing of this funding is absolutely crucial. In a time when federalUNIVERSITY OF COLORADO BOULDERfunding is uncertain, support like this is essen-tial, he said. It allows us to take risks, trainJennifer H. Hill, Ph.D., Department of Molecular, the next generation of scientists, and stay inCellular, and Developmental Biology, BioFrontiers Institute | Microbiota Shaping of Human Islets. Colorado to build something meaningful. As these two investigators push forward in their respective research, their work not onlySince its inception, the Webb-Waring Biomedical Research advances the fundamentals of neuroscience,Awards Program has supported 113 Boettcher Investigators, but also holds the potential for new ways toincluding this years class, and awarded close to $27 million in grant funding. These researchers have gone on to secure more diagnose, treat, and understand some of thethan $150 million in additional research funding from federal, most complex and mysterious challengesstate, and private sources.in human health: those rooted in the inner workings of the brain.2025-2026 BIOSCIENCE COLORADO 45'