Suma Shankar, chief of the Genomic Medicine Division in the Department of Pediatrics and professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Ophthalmology, and Yuanpei Li, professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine, are the 2025 recipients of the Cultivating Team Science Awards.
The grants are awarded for collaborative science projects led by School of Medicine faculty principal investigators with teams that represent at least two different School of Medicine departments.
“This year’s awardees represent the robust cross-disciplinary partnerships that are a hallmark of what makes our research community so dynamic and innovative,” said School of Medicine Vice Dean for Research Kim E. Barrett. “In these challenging times, we remain committed to doing all we can to advance science and foster discoveries that will transform lives.”
2025 Cultivating Team Science Recipients
Suma Shankar
Several investigators at UC Davis have been working independently to advance discovery of novel genes associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) and develop gene-based precision therapies.
Suma Shankar’s project brings together a team to create an integrated translational pipeline to advance ASD and NDD research. Their goal is to form a Center of Neurodevelopmental Precision Medicine where preclinical research will develop the infrastructure for clinical trials of novel personalized therapeutics.
Yuanpei Li’s team will take an interdisciplinary approach to tackling therapy-resistant cancer, specifically pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) and high-grade gliomas. Both are devastating cancers for which treatment resistance is a major impediment for clinical management. The team will test the ability of their recently developed nanomedicine platform to improve treatment of PDAC and gliomas.
The Cultivating Team Science Award will provide $100,000 annually per team, totaling $200,000 in two-year seed funds for planning, preparation and submission of large team-based applications. The awarded teams will be required to submit an initial application for a program project, U01, or equivalent grant to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) or other federal funding agency by June 2027.
UC Davis School of Medicine The UC Davis School of Medicine is among the nation's leading medical schools, recognized for its research and primary-care programs. The school offers fully accredited master's degree programs in public health and in informatics, and its combined M.D.-Ph.D. program is training the next generation of physician-scientists to conduct high-impact research and translate discoveries into better clinical care. Along with being a recognized leader in medical research, the school is committed to serving underserved communities and advancing rural health. For more information, visit UC Davis School of Medicine at medschool.ucdavis.edu.
