First Look Awardees

The First Look Awards program, a collaboration between the MLSC and the Mary Horrigan Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, supports exploratory projects to begin developing translatable solutions for women’s health and furthering our understanding of gender biology.

The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center aims to support and incentivize translational project teams developing research towards the understanding of conditions and development of solutions in this area of need.

$ 0

in MLSC investments

unique Massachusetts institutions funded

investigators supported

$ 0 M

follow-on funding received

2023 First Look Awardees

The Center awarded five projects totaling $250,000.

Project Title: Targeting AMHR2 in cancer-associated mesothelial cells as a treatment for ovarian cancer

Awardee (PIs, Institution): Dr. David Pepin, Massachusetts General Hospital

Industry Partners:

Grant Awarded: $50,000

Project Title: Mapping the mediators of inflammation across the human menstrual cycle

Awardee (PIs, Institution): Dr. Juan Gnecco, Tufts University

Industry Partners:

Grant Awarded: $50,000

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Project Title: Human Stem Cell-Derived Sensory Neurons for Modeling Female Reproductive Tract Pain

Awardee (PIs, Institution): Dr. Nisha Iyer, Tufts University

Industry Partners:

Project Title: Assessing genetic risk for peripartum cardiomyopathy

Awardee (PIs, Institution): Dr. Krishna Aragam, Massachusetts General Hospital

Project Title: Association of Menopausal state, Sex, and Incident CVD events with HDL cholesterol, Particle Subfractions, and Function

Awardee (PIs, Institution): Dr. Zareen Farukhi, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

2022 First Look Awardees

The Center awarded $150,000 in grant funding to support three projects.

Project Title: A human trophoblast-derived placental model for studying the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on early pregnancy

Awardee (PIs, Institution): Ching-Wen Chang, UMass Chan Medical School

Project Title: A new model for the study of endometriosis

Awardee (PIs, Institution): Kara McKinley, Harvard University

Project Title: Sex Differences in the Pathophysiology of Aortic Diseases

Awardee (PI, Institution): Marie Billaud, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

2021 First Look Awardees

The MLSC awarded $50,000 to one project.

Project Title: E2-PATH assay for assessment of breast cancer risk and treatment

Awardee (PIs, Institution): Sallie Schneider, PhD, Baystate Medical Center

Meet the First Look Award Recipients