2026 TSC Alliance Research Grant and Postdoctoral Fellowship

2026 TSC Alliance Research Grant and Postdoctoral Fellowship is sponsored by TSC Alliance. Offers funding for early-career researchers to drive innovative TSC research, including areas like understanding phenotypic heterogeneity and TSC signaling pathways.

Grants & funding - TSC Alliance I will forever be grateful to the TSC Alliance for funding my research and for their support throughout the grant process. Having a leading TSC organization believe in my work at an early stage of my career was invaluable.

” Nicola Alesi, PhD, Brigham and Women’s Hospital We invest in early-career researchers to drive innovative TSC research and to foster a diverse group of researchers dedicated to our shared mission. In 2025, we funded three awards to postdoctoral fellows and early-stage investigators.

In 2026, we anticipate awarding three or four awards to postdoctoral fellows and early-stage investigators depending on merit, requested budgets, and funds available. Download the 2026 program guidelines The TSC Alliance’s program follows a two-step process. A Letter of Intent (LOI) is required and must be submitted by the due date.

LOIs will be peer-reviewed, and a subset of applicants submitting LOIs will be invited to submit full applications. 2026 TSC Alliance Research Grant and Postdoctoral Fellowship program is now accepting LOIs! Access LOI instructions here .

Submit your LOI on Proposal Central. Download the 2026 program guidelines.

LOI portal opens: Monday, March 16, 2026 LOI due: Monday, May 18, 2026, 11:59 pm ET Full proposal invitations distributed: Week of July 20, 2026 Full proposal due (by invitation only): Tuesday, September 8, 2026, 11:59 pm ET Applicants notified: Week of October 26, 2026 Project start date: Tuesday, December 1, 2026 Wong Family Foundation Research Award Thanks to generous support from the Wong Family Foundation, the TSC Alliance is proud to again offer this special funding opportunity as part of our regular research grant and postdoctoral fellowship cycle.

This two-year award will be designated to the most meritorious application focusing on epilepsy research. All epilepsy-focused Postdoctoral Fellowship and Research Grant candidates will automatically be considered for the Wong Family Foundation Research Award , so no additional information is required during the application process.

Areas of emphasis for a project designated the Wong Family Foundation Research Award may include (but are not limited to): Basic research in mechanisms relating to intractability, e.g., multi-drug resistant epilepsy Model development (especially for infantile spasms or intractable epilepsy) New technologies related to epilepsy (imaging, electrophysiology, etc.) Postdoctoral Fellowship awards may support any type of basic or translational research relevant to TSC that provides an outstanding opportunity for the trainee’s professional growth.

Postdoctoral Fellowship awards are intended to provide funding for an individual who has recently earned a PhD or MD degree and is working with a Sponsor to perform research relevant to TSC. The Sponsor must be tenure-track faculty or an equivalent level at a research institution or company. The award is intended to fund the applicant’s salary and some of the laboratory supplies or tools necessary to conduct the proposed research.

The award is not intended to fund technical support for the project or to purchase equipment in the Sponsor’s laboratory. The trainee applicant is considered to be the “Principal Investigator” for the purpose of postdoctoral fellowship awards.

Research grant proposals should address one of the following four high-priority areas: Understanding phenotypic heterogeneity in TSC, i.e., research on genetic, biologic, or environmental factors that might explain why TSC is so different from person to person Gaining a deeper knowledge of TSC signaling pathways and the cellular consequences of TSC deficiency Improving TSC disease models, whether cell-based, tissue-based, or animal models Developing clinical biomarkers or patient-reported outcome measures for TSC, particularly those that assess disease burden or stratify an individual’s risk of progression or developing specific manifestations of TSC Research grant awards are intended to provide funding for an independent researcher, whether tenure-track faculty, non-tenure-track faculty or staff, or an equivalent level at a research institution or company.

The award may support laboratory supplies, personnel costs, services, or equipment necessary to conduct the proposed research. The TSC Alliance fully supports collaborative projects between co-investigators, but only one investigator may be considered the “Principal Investigator” for the purpose of applying through the online system. Typical duration is two years.

Can be shorter if appropriate for the project. Maximum total costs of $75,000 per year ($150,000 total). Postdoctoral Fellowship proposals must include up to $1,500 for travel expenses to attend a relevant scientific meeting.

This is optional but strongly encouraged for Research Grant proposals. For research grants, including postdoctoral fellowships, the TSC Alliance allows no more than 10 percent of the total costs to be applied to indirect costs. As an example, a maximum of $15,000 indirect costs may be included within an award totaling $150,000.

The TSC Alliance does not pay indirect costs on contracts based on delivering a tangible or measurable work product. Examples of such contracts are those to enter data into the TSC Natural History Database or collection of blood or remnant surgical tissue for the TSC Biosample Repository. This opportunity is open to all investigators at established academic or research institutions or at pharmaceutical or biotech companies worldwide.

Researchers residing in the United States do not need to be U.S. citizens to apply for funding. Limitations on eligibility: Applicants for either a Postdoctoral Fellowship or a Research Grant must fit the NIH definition of an early-stage investigator. Postdoctoral Fellowship applicants must have been a member of the Sponsor’s laboratory for at least 12 months as of the Letter of Intent (LOI) due date.

Previous recipients of a TSC Alliance Postdoctoral Fellowship are not eligible to receive a second TSC Alliance Postdoctoral Fellowship award but are eligible to receive a Research Grant as an independent, early-stage investigator. As a nonprofit funded through contributions from the TSC community and the public at large, we are committed to being good stewards of these funds.

We support projects that will rapidly advance our understanding of TSC and the development of therapies for the disease. The TSC Alliance seeks to inspire discovery and innovation by improving access to scientific data and outputs including data, code, software, protocols, and materials. Improved dissemination will lead to more opportunities for TSC investigators to collaborate and for build upon the latest developments in research.

In this regard, the TSC Alliance has adopted an Open Science Policy to ensure transparency of and broad access to TSC Alliance-funded research. Please click here to read the policy in its entirety.

Additional Grant Policies TSC Alliance Intellectual Property Policy TSC Alliance Human and Animal Use Policy TSC Alliance Policy on the Use of Human Fetal Tissue and/or Human Embryonic Stem Cells in Research ;"> Keith Hall Research Grant Award The Keith Hall Research Grant Award was established in memory of Keith Hall, an adult with TSC and a former TSC Alliance board chair and community leader.

Keith participated extensively in several TSC Alliance volunteer capacities and was a “gentle giant” to so many people who knew him. Keith passed away July 23, 2017 after a battle with cancer and left an incredible legacy of caring for others and inspiring hundreds of children, teens and adults with TSC to embrace life and live it to the fullest, despite any challenges they may face.

Keith’s major long-term concerns and goals included: Addressing the needs of adults with TSC Living with kidney involvement Increasing participation to the TSC Natural History Database Donating tissue for research Making involvement in clinical trials easy for anyone Investing in TSC research grants Each year, the TSC Alliance Board of Directors designates one grant in an area of Keith’s interest as the Keith Hall Research Grant Award.

Current and previous grant awards ;"> Currently funded grant awards Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards University of California, Berkeley The role of astrocytes in TSC2-induced epilepsy using cortical organoids Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Somatic mosaicism and mTOR hyperactivation as mechanisms of epileptogenesis Boston Children’s Hospital Predicting neurologic outcomes in TSC from tuber location and connectivity Biosample Seed Grant Awardees Kimberly Raab-Graham, PhD Utilizing patient data to facilitate discoveries in preclinical models of Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Mis-regulation of RNA splicing as a major potential driver of pathology in SEGAs Molecular analysis of PBMC and brain samples from TSC patients Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards Understanding the pathological roles of microglia in TSC University of Massachusetts Regulation of kidney cystogenesis by a non-canonical Rag-GTPase mechanism Scalable assays to resolve variants of uncertain significance in TSC2 Biosample Seed Grant Awardees Establishing novel plasma biomarkers through an unbiased approach to prognosticate TAND A Subependymal Giant Astrocytoma Analysis Dysregulation of water channel proteins (aquaporins) in tuberous sclerosis complex Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The role of EGF signaling in astrocyte-neuron interactions in TSC University of California, Irvine Identify metabolite markers for diagnosis and treatment of TSC kidney tumor Baylor College of Medicine Rescue of epilepsy sing gene therapy in a mouse model of TSC University of Texas at Dallas Translational control mechanisms in TSC-associated epilepsy TSC Biosample Seed Grant Awards Agnies van Eeghen, MD, PhD Towards understanding of neurological aging in TSC University of New England Identifying the tryptophan/kynurenine metabolic landscape in TSC University of California, Irvine Identifying Circulating Metabolite Biomarkers of Kidney Cysts and Angiomyolipoma in TSC Patients Postdoctoral Fellowship Award Annelot Clementine Mathilda van Esbroeck, PhD Erasmus University Medical Center Investigating ASO therapy for TSC-associated neuropathophysiology Columbia University Medical Center Defining the pathogenic role of neural crest cells in tuberous sclerosis complex TSC Biosample Seed Grant Awards A Subependymal Giant Cell Astrocytoma Cell Atlas Mark Hester, PhD and Alecia Biel, PhD Nationwide Children‘s Hospital Understanding Molecular Mechanisms of Blood Brain Barrier Deficits in TSC Geoff Owens, PhD, Aria Fallah, MD, Rajsekar Rajaraman, MD, Julia Chang, PhD Does everolimus significantly alter the T cell repertoire in TSC patients?

University College Dublin The role of circulating serum exosomes in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and the premetastatic niche in lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) Brigham and Women’s Hospital Role of TFEB in the pathogenesis and therapy of TSC kidney manifestations Defining the genetic factors that mediate purine signals to the TSC network University of Maryland School of Medicine Amino acid modulation as a therapeutic strategy for TSC-associated epilepsy TSC- DSC Clinical Fellowship Lysine metabolism in tuberous sclerosis complex Innovation Workshop: Newborn Screening Assay Development Awards Proteomic assay for newborn screening of tuberous sclerosis complex Brigham and Women’s Hospital Application of glycomics to identify early biomarkers of TSC TSC Biosample Seed Grant Awards Identification of novel mTOR targets in the TSC brain Centre Hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal Biomarkers for epilepsy and renal angiomyolipomas among people with TSC Using Spatial-Transcriptomics to define gene expression profile of SEGAs in tuberous sclerosis complex Postdoctoral Fellowship Award University of California, Berkeley Investigating the origins of tubers using human cortical organoids Brigham and Women’s Hospital Polyclonal somatic mutations drive TSC tumorigenesis Therapeutic benefits of nonsense suppression in TSC Keith Hall Memorial Research Grant Award Hadassah Medical Center, Israel Targeting the Endocannabinoid System in TSC-induced kidney disease TSC Biosample Repository Seed Grant University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center Role of extracellular vesicles in TSC Investigating EV-associated RNA as a biomarker in tuberous sclerosis complex Brigham and Women’s Hospital A multi-omics platform to identify novel non-invasive diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers in TSC patients Postdoctoral Fellowship Award Children’s Hospital, Boston Harnessing the circadian clock to modulate TSC-related neuronal phenotypes Defining the molecular epigenetic signature downstream of mTORC1 signaling Children’s Hospital, Boston Non-cell autonomous mechanisms of epilepsy in TSC2 Clinical Research Network Grant Award Darcy A.

Krueger, MD, PhD Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center Stopping TSC Onset and Progression 2 (STOP-2): Epilepsy prevention in TSC infants Children’s Hospital, Boston Rare Diseases Clinical Research Consortium TSC Biosample Repository Seed Grant Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Inc. Identification of immunogenic structures of the TSC glycome through glycan microarrays Novel approaches to treat TSC Postdoctoral Fellowship Award Christine Ochoa Escamilla, PhD University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center Neural Circuits Underlying Autism-Related Behaviors in Tuberous Sclerosis Keith Hall Research Grant Award Non-Cell Autonomous Effects in TSC Brain Malformations The Role of Exosomes in Epilepsy of TSC TSC Biosample Repository Seed Grant The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Developing a Genetic Risk Prediction Model for Epilepsy in Patients with TSC Brigham and Women’s Hospital Mitochondrial DNA Heteroplasmy in the Pathogenesis and Therapy of TSC University of Porto – Faculty of Medicine Epigenetic and Transcriptional Analysis of TSC2 in Leukocyte DNA from Tuberous Sclerosis Patients Quantification of Plasma Levels of Sphingolipids and Ceramides in Patients with TSC University of California, San Francisco Developing New Ablative Therapies to Treat Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Mark Thomas, PhD and Rosemary Ekong, PhD University College London The TSC1 and TSC2 Variation Database Postdoctoral Fellowship Award Children’s Hospital Boston Brain Network Biomarkers of Epilepsy Development in TSC Brigham and Women’s Hospital Dysregulated Phosphatidylcholine Metabolism in TSC and LAM Pathogenesis and Therapy Keith Hall Research Grant Award Co-funded with The LAM Foundation Children’s Hospital Boston Brain Network Biomarkers of Epilepsy Development in TSC Children’s Hospital Boston The Circadian Clock as a Capacitor for TSC-related Phenotypes Erasmus Universitair Medisch Centrum Rotterdam Functional characterization of TSC1 and TSC2 variants associated with TSC University College London, London, UK The TSC1 and TSC2 variation database Co-funded with the Tuberous Sclerosis Association (UK) Brigham and Women’s Hospital Targeting the Lysophosphatidic Acid Pathway in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Postdoctoral Fellowship Award Brigham and Women’s Hospital T-Cell Dysfunction in TSC: Mechanisms and Targeted Therapy UT Southwestern Medical Center Impact of Cerebellar – Medial Prefrontal Cortical Circuits Postdoctoral Fellowship Award Sponsor: Helen Bateup, PhD University of California, Berkeley The impact of Tsc1 deletion on dopamine neurons Boston Children’s Hospital Sonic hedgehog and ciliary signaling in TSC Analysis of novel therapies and survival mechanisms in TSC2 deficient cells Harvard University School of Public Health Repurposing Approved Inhibitors of Purine Synthesis for TSC Treatment Postdoctoral Fellowship Award Sponsor: Brendan Manning, PhD Harvard University School of Public Health, Boston, MA Role of the TSC complex component TBC1D7 in cell migration and invasion Sponsor: John Blenis, PhD Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY mTORC1-mediated mRNA alternative splicing in tuberous sclerosis and LAM Gabriella D’Arcangelo, PhD Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ Developing TSC patient-derived NPCs Yale University, New Haven, CT Analysis and treatment of altered cortical network dynamics in TSC University College London, London, UK The TSC1 and TSC2 variation database Co-funded with the Tuberous Sclerosis Association (UK) Children’s Hospital, Los Angeles, CA Lung mesenchymal TSC2 deletion in TSC lung disease TSC Clinical Research Consortium Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA Administrative Core Support for Developmental Synaptopathies Associated with TSC, PTEN and SHANK3 Mutations Five initial consortium sites received seed funding from the TSC Alliance and two NIH grants for clinical studies to identify markers of risk for autism and infantile spasms in TSC.

They are: Boston Children’s Hospital Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center University of Alabama, Birmingham University of California, Los Angeles University of Texas, Houston Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN Dissecting the effects of stem cell patterning on subependymal tumors David Kwiatkowski, MD, PhD Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA EPISTOP: clinical and molecular biomarkers of epilepsy in TSC Co-funded with the European Commission Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA Aberrant lipid metabolism in TSC diagnostics and therapeutics Postdoctoral Fellowship Award Sponsor: John Blenis, PhD Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA Identification and development of metabolism inhibitors as a therapeutic strategy for tuberous sclerosis complex University College London, London, UK The TSC1 and TSC2 variation database TSC Alliance Rothberg Courage Award in Research Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA TSC Neurocognitive Clinical Trial Recruitment Acceleration Award Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH TSC Neurocognitive Clinical Trial Recruitment Acceleration Award TSC Clinical Research Consortium Five initial consortium sites received seed funding from the TSC Alliance and two NIH grants for clinical studies to identify markers of risk for autism and infantile spasms in TSC Boston Children’s Hospital Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center University of Alabama, Birmingham Postdoctoral Fellowship Award Sponsor: John Bissler, MD Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress in the Pathogenesis and Treatment of TSC Renal Cystic Disease Sponsor: David Kwiatkowski, MD, PhD Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA Determining the Molecular Pathogenesis of TSC in No Mutation Identified (NMI) Patients TSC Drug Screening Program Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN High-throughput Chemical Screening for compounds reversing TSC phenotypes in vivo using tsc2 mutant zebrafish Children’s Hospital Boston, Boston, MA High Throughput Screening of Chemical Libraries in Primary Neurons TSC Alliance Rothberg Courage Award in Research Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA Targeting Autophagy and Cellular Metabolism for the Treatment of TSC Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, Cincinnati, OH MRI-Guided High Intensity Focused Ultrasound for TSC-Associated Renal and Pulmonary Disease University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX Identifying Additional Gene(s) That Cause Tuberous Sclerosis Complex by Whole Genome Sequencing Postdoctoral Fellowship Award Sponsor: Vijaya Ramesh, PhD Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA Elucidating the Role of Structural Variations in Autism Associated with Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Sponsor: Mustafa Sahin, MD, PhD Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA Regulation of Autophagy in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Sponsor: Kevin Ess, MD, PhD Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN The Role of the Tsc1 Gene in Interneuron Differentiation and Migration TSC Drug Screening Program Aristotelis Astrinidis, PhD Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA Screen of FDA-Approved Drugs as a Therapeutic Approach for Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA Quantitation of In Vivo Response in TSC Tumors: A National Resource of the TSC Alliance TSC Alliance Rothberg Courage Award in Research Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA TSC Neurocognitive Clinical Trial Seizure Tracker, LLC, Alexandria, VA Development and Implementation of an Epilepsy Clinical Trial Tool Postdoctoral Fellowship Award Sponsor: David Kwiatkowski, MD, PhD Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA Generation and Characterization of Genetic Models for Cortical Tubers Johnathan Lipton, MD, PhD Sponsor: Mustafa Sahin, MD, PhD Children’s Hospital, Boston, and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA Toward the Molecular Basis for Sleep Disorders in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex: The Circadian Link Sponsor: Angelique Bordey, PhD Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT Contributions of Neonatal Neural Progenitors to TSC Lesions Sponsor: David Kwiatkowski, MD, PhD Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard School of Medicine, Boston, MA High Throughput Sequencing for Mutation Identification in TSC Genes Sponsor: John Blenis, PhD Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA Characterization of the mTOR Signaling Pathways Using Quantitative Mass Spectrometry Columbia University Medical Center, New York City, NY Aberrant Astrocytic Control of Neuronal Excitability in Tuberous Sclerosis: A Potential Therapeutic Target in TSC Epileptic Syndrome New York University Medical Center, New York, NY Defining the Epileptogenic Zone in Tuberous Sclerosis Complex: Microelectrode Recordings in Children with Intractable Epilepsy and TSC University of Washington, Seattle, WA Glucose Restriction in TSC TSC Alliance Rothberg Courage Award in Research Frank McCormack, MD & Bruce Trapnell, MD University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH TSC Alliance Conference Grant Petrus de Vries, MBChB, MRCPsych, PhD Cambridge University & Society for the Study of Behavioural Phenotypes (SSBP), Cambridge, UK Listening to Genetic Disorders: The Etiology and Treatment of Neurodevelopmental Disorders TSC Alliance Supplemental Funding Award Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA Supplement for TSC Preclinical Studies and Clinical Trials Postdoctoral Fellowship Award Sponsor: Zhaoxia Sun, PhD Yale University, New Haven, CT Investigating a Link Between the Cilium and the TSC/mTOR Pathway Sponsor: David Kwiatkowski, MD, PhD Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA Investigation of TSC2 Missense Mutations Junior Investigator Award Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN Role of the Tuberin GAP Domain in Neural Progenitor Cells University of California, Irvine, CA Roles of TSC2 in Regulation of Dendritic Protein Synthesis and Synaptic Plasticity Senior Investigator Award Washington University, St.

Louis, MO Rational Therapy for Neurological Manifestations in a Mouse Model of TSC TSC Alliance Rothberg Courage Award in Research Frank McCormack, MD & Bruce Trapnell, MD University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH NIH Grant Award, Co-Funded by the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health and the TSC Alliance McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada mTOR-containing Protein Complexes in the Pathogenesis of Tuberous Sclerosis PKD/TSC Research Award co-funded by the TSC Alliance and the PKD Foundation Elizabeth Petri Henske, MD Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA Roles of Tuberin (TSC2) and Rheb in Cystic Kidney Disease M.

D.

Anderson Cancer Center, University of Texas, Smithville, TX C-SRC Regulation of the Functional PKD-1 TSC2 Interaction TSC Alliance Rothberg Courage Award in Research Frank McCormack, MD & Bruce Trapnell, MD University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH TSC Alliance Rothberg Courage Award in Research Iswar Hariharan, MBBS, PhD David Kwiatkowski, MD, PhD Harvard Medical School and Brigham & Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA Role of the TSC1/2 Complex in Regulation of the mTOR Pathway Yale University, New Haven, CT Screening of Potential Therapeutics for TSC Yale University, New Haven, CT Role of the TSC/Insulin Signaling Pathway in the Pathogenesis of TSC Elizabeth Petri Henske, MD Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA Effects of Estrogen and Progesterone on Angiomyolipoma Growth and Migration Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program, Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Research Program (TSCRP) Department of Health and Human Services Questions?

Contact Sam Metzger, Scientific Project Manager.

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