UT Southwestern researcher receives NIH Director’s New Innovator Award
Funding for David Sanders, Ph.D., will support research into how RNA biology may contribute to neurodegenerative disease
DALLAS – Oct. 08, 2025 – David Sanders, Ph.D., Assistant Professor in the Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases and Molecular Biology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, has been awarded $2.4 million over five years from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support his research into the role of RNA/protein assemblies in neurodegenerative diseases.
The NIH Director’s New Innovator Award is part of the NIH Common Fund’s High-Risk, High-Reward Program, which supports early-career investigators pursuing bold projects with broad potential impact on biomedical, behavioral, or social sciences. Dr. Sanders is one of approximately 30 researchers to receive an award this year.
Dr. Sanders, a member of the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute at UT Southwestern, investigates how cells organize proteins and RNA into liquidlike structures called biomolecular condensates. The New Innovator Award will fund his lab’s studies on how these structures regulate messenger RNA (mRNA) during stress and how their dysfunction may drive neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases.
“It’s known that mRNAs go bad in diverse neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases, from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) to various myopathies,” Dr. Sanders said. “Our goal is to determine if new fundamental principles that concern all of mRNA biology might lead to these devastating diseases.”
The Sanders Lab is focusing on two condensates: nuclear speckles, which influence how mRNA is processed before becoming a template for protein synthesis; and stress granules, which form when cells halt protein production. Early findings suggest that stress granules act more like solvents than reaction hubs, shielding fragile mRNA molecules from clumping or misfolding when they flood the cell during stress.
By uncovering how cells prevent, or resolve, “entangled” mRNA, Dr. Sanders and his team aim to advance understanding of a new layer of quality control in biology that could inform therapeutic strategies for untreatable diseases of aging.
Dr. Sanders joined UT Southwestern in 2023 after completing postdoctoral training at Princeton University. He earned his Ph.D. in neuroscience at Washington University, where he trained under Marc Diamond, M.D., who is now Director of the Center for Alzheimer’s and Neurodegenerative Diseases and Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at UTSW.
The New Innovator Award is among the most selective NIH programs. Established in 2007, the program currently supports about 30 researchers nationwide annually. Dr. Sanders is the latest in a series of UT Southwestern researchers to receive the New Innovator Award in recent years, reflecting the institution’s strength in fostering creative, impactful science.
“UT Southwestern is a wonderful, collaborative community that really cares about the success of its scientists. It hires thinkers with potentially transformative ideas, and it invests in their long-term trajectory,” Dr. Sanders said. “Here, our leadership and scientists deeply care about, ‘Did you make a discovery?’ and ‘Will you continue to make discoveries?’ as opposed to short-term, incremental impact. This really makes UT Southwestern a unique place to do science.”
Dr. Diamond holds the Effie Marie Cain Distinguished University Chair in Alzheimer’s Research.
About UT Southwestern Medical Center
UT Southwestern, one of the nation’s premier academic medical centers, integrates pioneering biomedical research with exceptional clinical care and education. The institution’s faculty members have received six Nobel Prizes and include 24 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 23 members of the National Academy of Medicine, and 13 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigators. The full-time faculty of more than 3,200 is responsible for groundbreaking medical advances and is committed to translating science-driven research quickly to new clinical treatments. UT Southwestern physicians provide care in more than 80 specialties to more than 140,000 hospitalized patients, more than 360,000 emergency room cases, and oversee nearly 5.1 million outpatient visits a year.