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 2025 FARA Fellow Awards to:
Dr. Guan is a fourth-year postdoc with Dr. Chenxu Zhu at the New York Genome Center. She is a previous recipient of the FARA Fellow Award and has received a FARA Postdoctoral Research Award in 2025, to advance our understanding of the epigenetic regulatory mechanisms underlying FRDA pathology and guide the development of novel epigenetic-targeted therapies.
Dr. Lin is a fourth–year postdoc with Dr. Viviana Gradinaru at the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Lin is a previous recipient of the FARA Fellow Award and was awarded both a FARA Postdoctoral Fellowship and Award. His research is focused on developing new brain penetrant AAVs by targeting specific Blood Brain Barrier transcytosis receptors and enhancing neuronal transduction in regions affected by FA, such as the cerebellum.
Dr. Maas received his MD and PhD from Radboud University and is now a postdoctoral researcher at the Center of Expertise for Rare and Genetic Movement Disorders at Radboud University Medical Center. He completed his Neurology residency in 2025. Dr. Maas is a previous recipient of the FARA Fellow Award and in 2022 was awarded a FARA grant to study peripheral nerve abnormalities in FA using ultrasound and nerve conduction studies.
Dr. Pilotto is a third-year postdoc and previous recipient of the FARA fellow Award. With the goal to build on her background in cellular and molecular neuroscience, she joined the Puccio Lab at the University of Lyon in 2023. Dr Pilotto is studying brain circuitry dysfunction in FA mouse models using in vivo two-photon imaging and chemogenetic approaches.
Dr. Yameogo is a third-year postdoc in the Napierala lab at the University of Texas Southwestern and was awarded FARA Fellow awards in 2023 and 2024. His project is focused on developing antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) for the treatment of FA. He is testing ASOs with the goal of increasing the level of frataxin and to target rare, intronic point mutations affecting splicing of intron 1 of FXN.
