Dr Stephen Fitzsimons has received a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Global Fellowship to conduct research in the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, (U.S.) on the UCD-coordinated CADASIL-iMATTR project. 

This project involves the investigation of a rare disease known as Cerebral Autosomal Dominant Arteriopathy with Sub-cortical Infarcts and Leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL) through the use of induced pluripotent stem cell Modelling And Targeted Therapeutic Research (iMATTR).

Dr Fitzsimons will conduct the project in the laboratory of Assistant Professor Fanny Elahi at Mount Sinai, who is a world leader in the field, and co-supervisor for Dr Fitzsimons’ fellowship. Following initiation of this project at Mount Sinai, Dr Fitzsimons will then return to Ireland in his final year of fellowship, leveraging the Godson Lab’s expertise in pro-resolving synthetic lipoxin mimetics. 

CADASIL is a rare disease of the small blood vessels and can cause migraines, strokes and cognitive decline leading to dementia. Vascular disease is the second most common cause of dementia with the burden set to increase with population ageing. There are no therapies for CADASIL and insights into this disease will prove instrumental in understanding and treating the vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia. 

Through his Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Global Fellowship, Dr Fitzsimons will work with leading experts in CADASIL and Stem Cell modelling, Assistant Professor Fanny Elahi and Assistant Professor Joel Blanchard (Mount Sinai), with a secondment to Assistant Professor Shrike Zhang’s Lab at Harvard University. He will then return to Ireland to work at the Godson Lab at UCD.

Professor Catherine Godson, UCD School of Medicine, Director of UCD Diabetes Complications Research Centre and Fellow of UCD Conway Institute is the project co-supervisor. Professor Godson congratulated Dr Fitzsimons on this achievement: ”This fellowship will allow Stephen to further develop his impressive skill set across several cutting edge technologies including iPSC modelling, bioengineering and therapeutics. The research will result in impactful discoveries for this disease, while generating significant European economic development and strengthening transatlantic research networks.”

Dr Fitzsimons holds a degree in Pharmacology and a PhD in Cardiovascular Research from UCD and has completed Postdoctoral Research at UCD (2019-2021), RCSI (2021-2022) and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai New York (2022-present). 

He said: "I am delighted to receive this Fellowship and would like to thank all my previous academic mentors including Dr Claire McCoy (RCSI), Professor Breandán Kennedy (UCD) and especially Professor Orina Belton who was a fantastic mentor throughout my PhD and postdoctoral years in UCD."

Find out more about Marie Skłodowska-Curie awards here.