Dr. Holder receives Doris Duke Charitable Foundation's 2017 Clinical Scientist Award

Dr. Jimmy Holder, investigator at the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital and assistant professor at the Baylor College of Medicine, has been awarded the 2017 Clinical Scientist Development Award by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. This highly competitive award of $495,000, will be used to support his work in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Out of nearly 200 applicants, Holder is one of 17 physician/scientists across the United States who were selected for the award. Recipients are chosen based on their rigor of research endeavors and their commitment to future excellence as independent clinical researchers in the biomedical field.

The award protects and makes possible for recipients to dedicate a portion of their professional time to clinical research. Holder will focus his research on his project titled, "A systematic search for targeted therapeutic entry points for SYNGAP1 hapolinsufficiency - implications for neurodevelopmental disorder therapies."

"I am honored to be selected as one of this year's Doris Duke CSDA awardees. This award will allow my lab to move into a new area of research to identify therapeutic entry points for a severe neurodevelopmental disorder due to mutations in the SYNGAP1 gene. Spontaneous mutations in SYNGAP1 cause a severe neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by intellectual disability, autism and epilepsy. I envision that the information we learn from this work will serve as the basis for new therapies for children affected by this disorder" said Holder, who is also a physician at Texas Children's Hospital where he cares for children with SYNGAP1 mutations as well as other neurodevelopmental disorders.

The mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is to improve the quality of people's lives through grants supporting the performing arts, environmental conservation, medical research and child well-being, and through preservation of the cultural and environmental legacy of Doris Duke's properties.

• Doris Duke Charitable Foundation's official press release