2026 Research Grant Spotlight

The Brain Aneurysm Foundation is proud to support groundbreaking research aimed at improving outcomes for patients and ultimately preventing ruptures. Each week, we’ll highlight one of our 2026 funded researchers and provide a brief overview of their project and its potential impact on patients, families, and the future of care.

Teresa Sanchez, PhD

Weill Cornell Medicine

Targeting Endothelial Sphingolipid Signaling as a Novel Therapeutic Strategy for Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage

The purpose of our project is to understand why the brain’s blood vessels become damaged after a brain aneurysm ruptures and to test a new treatment designed to protect them. We are focusing on a novel pathway activated in the brain blood vessels in pathological conditions, which we believe contributes to the breakdown of the blood-brain barrier, vascular dysfunction, inflammation, and brain injury following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. We will determine whether blocking this pathway with a novel therapeutic agent developed in our laboratory can reduce this damage and improve recovery by protecting blood vessel function and limiting the entry of harmful blood components into the brain.

This project was funded by the Janine Durso Chair of Research, the Sharon Epperson Chair of Research, and the Laughter is the Best Medicine Chair of Research