The Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) established the FARA Fellow Program to recognize young investigators who have demonstrated or hold promise for outstanding research achievements in Friedreich Ataxia (FA) and will commit their early career to FA research.
The aim of the program is to attract and retain talented young scientists to the FA research field, by providing mentorship, training and networking opportunities.
FARA is proud to announce the 2024 FARA Fellow Awards to:
Dr. Indelicato is a clinician scientist, doing her Neurology residency. She received her Medical Degree at La Sapienza University in Rome and her PhD from the Medical University of Innsbruck. She was awarded a Postdoctoral Research Award from FARA in 2021 to study iron dysregulation in FA.
Dr. Maas received his MD and PhD from Radboud University and is now a sixth-year Resident in Neurology and Clinical Neurophysiology. Dr. Maas was recently awarded a FARA grant to use ultrasound and MRI to study nerves in FA patients.
Dr. Pilotto is a second-year postdoc. She began her neuroscience career at the University of Torino studying two intellectual disability disorders, Rett syndrome and CDKL5 disorder, and during her PhD at the University of Bern she conducted groundbreaking research on ALS and SCA1. Her project aims at uncovering disruptions in synaptic and circuit-related processes in the FA brain.
Dr Yameogo is a second-year postdoc and previous recipient of the FARA Fellow Award. He received his Ph.D. at the Université Laval, Quebec City, with a project on developing a gene editing approach for FA. In his research project, Dr. Yameogo will develop antisense oligonucleotides to increase FXN transcription and target point mutations in the FXN gene.
