For her ongoing dedication to mentoring the next generation of neuroscience researchers and innovators, renowned UTSA brain health researcher Jenny Hsieh has been recognized by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS).
The institute, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), grants the NINDS Landis Award for Outstanding Mentorship by a NINDS Investigator to recognize “dedication to superior mentorship and rigorous scientific training in neuroscience research.”
NINDS presents the award annually to five or fewer candidates who are actively engaged in NINDS-supported research.
Hsieh is one of only three recipients this year and was nominated for her personalized and holistic approach to mentoring. Hsieh’s roles at UTSA include Semmes Foundation Distinguished Chair in Cell Biology, Brain Health Consortium director and professor and chair of the Department of Neuroscience, Developmental and Regenerative Biology.
“It’s not often that you find mentors who are that focused on you as an individual and your growth as a person as well as a scientist,” said Karina Meyer-Acosta ’25, a current postdoctoral associate whose extensive work under Hsieh’s guidance was the basis for her dissertation.
“When COVID hit, everything was on hold — it was really difficult to get the cell lines I needed, and so I tried some experiments that were very, very difficult, and she was incredibly supportive throughout,” Meyer-Acosta said. “I would get stuck, and she would talk it through with me. She was absolutely phenomenal at dealing with the mental health crisis that was COVID, while also supporting me in the early years of my PhD.”
Inspired and supported
Meyer-Acosta first approached Hsieh after she’d been inspired by a lecture on Hsieh’s research using brain organoids to pinpoint the origins of epilepsy and other neurological disorders.
She was interested in studying the role of APOE4 — a gene that increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. Throughout her master’s and doctoral studies, Meyer-Acosta worked with Hsieh on understanding the links between the two disorders.
“We came into this idea that Alzheimer’s disease and epilepsy have so much in common, and so that’s what the project was based off of,” Meyer-Acosta said. “Both epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease have this increased excitation in the hippocampus, and while it doesn’t always amount to seizures, there’s increased seizure risk for people with Alzheimer’s disease.”
As Hsieh and Meyer-Acosta compared the two disorders, they began to explore other effects of the gene. In infants, for example, the gene also causes cognitive and brain structure changes.
“I would read papers and tell her, ‘I think this is what’s happening,’ And she’d say, ‘Yeah, why don’t we look at that, too?’” Meyer-Acosta said. “She really let me take the lead and go in whatever direction the research was pointing, and that was really helpful for my growth as an independent scientist.”
Meyer-Acosta recently published her findings on the impact of APOE4 in the journal, Stem Cell Reports.
‘Always took the time’
Courtney L. McMahon, ’22, who completed her PhD in cell and molecular biology under Hsieh’s supervision, also described Hsieh’s mentorship style as highly tailored and supportive.
“Dr. Hsieh didn’t only care about the work that we did for her in her lab, but she also cared about each of her mentees as individuals,” McMahon said. “She always took the time to check in with us and make sure that we were doing all right in our personal as well as our professional lives, even after graduating and moving on to other roles.”
McMahon joined Hsieh’s lab six years ago with a focus on viral neuropathogenesis.
“When the COVID-19 pandemic arose in 2020, Dr. Hsieh and I quickly shifted the focus of my project from studying the effects of influenza A on the brain, to SARS-CoV-2,” McMahon said. “During my time in her lab, our research together aimed to uncover the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on both the adult and developing fetal brain using stem cell-derived brain organoids and other models.”
After graduating and publishing her findings, McMahon continued to work in Hsieh’s lab as a postdoctoral fellow to complete the project.
“Our work was amongst some of the first to discover that SARS-CoV-2 preferentially infected the regulatory glial cells of the brain, specifically astrocytes, and that prenatal SARS-CoV-2 infection in later pregnancy could lead to abnormal neurological development and the presentation of neurological disorders in these individuals later in adulthood,” McMahon said.
“Supporting and guiding my own trainees has become one of the most fulfilling aspects of my career.”
— Jenny Hsieh
Paying it forward
Hsieh said that her mentorship style is inspired by her own mentors.
“Because I have been fortunate to have exceptional mentors throughout my career, I am deeply committed to paying that forward,” she said. “Supporting and guiding my own trainees has become one of the most fulfilling aspects of my career.”
Her trainees are required to take Hsieh’s course, Ethical Conduct in Research, which helps them understand considerations including responsible data management, statistical literacy, as well as experimental design, analysis and interpretation in research.
Hsieh’s trainees also receive additional support and structure in the form of regular meetings with the lab team and one-on-one.
“These regular check-ins are essential for shaping an individualized development plan, while also leaving room for adaptation as circumstances and ambitions evolve,” Hsieh said.
Expanding opportunities
More UTSA students will soon have access to dedicated mentorship in neuroscience. Hsieh and her colleagues, John McCarrey and Matthew Wanat, recently received an NINDS T32 grant that will support the launch of a new predoctoral training program, the Integrating Neuroscience with Developmental and Regenerative Biology (INDARB) Training Program.
The program will prepare predoctoral students for careers in advanced neuroscience research and related fields. Through this initiative, four outstanding candidates will be selected and placed in one of approximately 28 UTSA laboratories.
Under the guidance of experienced mentors, they will gain hands-on experience and exposure to interdisciplinary research training and cutting-edge technologies that are poised to transform the field of neuroscience.
Hsieh’s NIH-funded research focuses on a range of areas including the application of human pluripotent stem cell models and CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing tools to neural circuit disorders like epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease.
Hsieh has more than 70 published, peer-reviewed articles, reviews and book chapters, and she receives active annual funding of over $500,000. Her work has resulted in three patents for novel nervous system research and stem cell technology.
