Veronique Belzil, Ph.D., receives Gerstner Family Career Development Award

Veronique Belzil, Ph.D. (NSCI ’15), Department of Neuroscience at Mayo Clinic in Florida, received a Gerstner Family Career Development Award for her project “Working to Improve Diagnosis and Treatment of ALS and FTLD.” Dr. Belzil is paving the way for improved diagnosis and treatment of ALS and FTLD. Her work has been instrumental in elucidating the contribution of genetics, epigenetics and transcriptional variations to ALS. She hopes her findings lead to the identification of novel therapeutic targets and needed biomarkers for both ALS and FTLD. Dr. Belzil leads translational studies for neurodegenerative diseases in the Department of Neuroscience and as a member of the Center for Individualized Medicine.

She is an assistant professor of neuroscience in the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science.

The competitive awards are presented annually by Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine to researchers who are early in their careers and conducting innovative investigations to predict, prevent, treat and cure disease using individualized medicine approaches. The award provides important seed money for early-stage investigators interested in launching a career in individualized medicine.