Dr Maria Di Biase awarded the Al & Val Rosenstrauss Fellowship

Dr Maria Di Biase, a researcher in the Department of Anatomy & Physiology in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences has received an Al & Val Rosenstrauss Fellowship 2025 from the Rebecca L Cooper Foundation.

Dr Di Biase’s research will use brain organoids—lab-grown human brain tissue derived from stem cells—to study schizophrenia, and combining these cellular models with neuroimaging, genetic, and clinical data from individuals recently diagnosed with schizophrenia.

“The Fellowship is integral to my research which will improve our biological grasp on schizophrenia—an elusive, complex and often devastating illness. This research could unlock pathways to more effective treatments, which, for those affected, their families, and clinicians are clamoring for,” Dr Di Biase said.

The Al & Val Rosenstrauss Fellowship from the Rebecca L Cooper Foundation support talented early-career researchers for a five-year term, so that they may advance their innovative research program and strengthen their position as emerging leaders within their respective field of expertise.