The University of Virginia School of Medicine’s Harald Sontheimer and a colleague from Stanford University shared the Gertrud Reemtsma Foundation’s 2025 International Prize in Translational Neuroscience for their pioneering research in the field of cancer neuroscience.
The foundation’s announcement stated the research of Sontheimer and Stanford’s Dr. Michelle Monje has “fundamentally changed our understanding of brain tumors” and opened the door to desperately needed new treatments.
Sontheimer said he was “humbled and honored” to receive the prize recognizing his efforts to improve the understanding of brain cancer. The prize comes with an award of more than $70,000. “We owe it to patients with this devastating disease to provide hope for innovative treatments,” he said.
Sontheimer, of UVA Cancer Center, and Monje have helped advance the understanding of the development of aggressive brain tumors, known as gliomas. They demonstrated the activity of nerve cells called neurons can promote the growth of the tumors, while the tumors, in turn, stimulate further neuronal activity. This cycle helps to further feed the tumors’ growth and spread.
Sontheimer discovered how glioma cells use neuron-like ion channels to proliferate throughout the brain. Further, he has shown tumor cells can trigger epileptic seizures by releasing neurotransmitters that stimulate tumor growth.
This work has laid the foundation for several clinical trials testing new treatments, and Sontheimer has co-founded multiple biotech companies that are translating neuroscience discoveries into treatments.
Hazing Prevention Network honors Gordie Center director
Susie Bruce, director of UVA’s Gordie Center, is a national leader in battling hazing and substance abuse among college students. (UVA Gordie Center photo)
The Hazing Prevention Network recently bestowed one of five 2025 Hank Nuwer Anti-Hazing Hero Awards upon Susie Bruce, director of UVA’s Gordie Center, which works to end hazing and substance misuse among college and high school students nationwide through evidence-informed, student-tested resources.
Named for anti-hazing journalist and author Hank Nuwer, the annual awards honor those who challenge harmful traditions, elevate awareness and inspire others to action.
Bruce has three decades of experience in collegiate health promotion, with expertise in the social norms approach, peer education and curriculum infusion. She directs the APPLE Training Institutes, the leading national strategic training program for substance misuse prevention and health promotion for student-athletes and athletics departments. She is also a faculty affiliate of Youth-Nex, the Center to Promote Effective Youth Development, in UVA’s School of Education and Human Development.
The Hazing Prevention Network is a national nonprofit dedicated to empowering people to prevent hazing by building awareness, providing education and resources, advocating for change and forging strong partnerships.
Nursing trio to be inducted as American Academy of Nursing Fellows
School of Nursing faculty members, from left, Windy Alonso, Kim Elgin and Emma Mitchell are the newest of 20 national academy fellows on the school’s faculty. (UVA School of Nursing photos)
Three UVA School of Nursing faculty will be inducted as fellows of the American Academy of Nursing in October: Windy Alonso, associate professor and department of nursing research chair, who joined the faculty July 25; Kim Elgin, a part-time faculty member and director of advanced practice providers at UVA Health; and Emma Mitchell, associate professor and a National Institutes of Health-funded nurse scientist.
The trio will be inducted at the academy’s annual Health Policy Conference in Washington in October.
“Windy, Kim and Emma each bring such important, distinctive approaches to nursing, clinical practice, teaching and science,” Pew Charitable Trusts Dean Marianne Baernholdt said. “This honor is so well deserved. What a joy it will be to celebrate them.”
An award-winning educator and nurse scientist with expertise in heart failure and rural health, Alonso leads the HEART Camp Connect research team and a $3.9 million National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute-funded study that promotes exercise among patients with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.
Alonso came to UVA from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and is a fellow of the American Heart Association, the Heart Failure Society of America and the National Rural Health Association.
At UVA Health University Medical Center, Elgin leads teams of advanced practice providers and is a part-time faculty member, teaching advanced practice nursing students in the Doctor of Nursing Practice and post-master’s programs. She’s championed the optimization of the clinical nurse specialist role across the nation, seeking to remove barriers and support top-of-license practice for advanced practice providers, and has repeatedly achieved recognition at the local, regional and national levels for her efforts.
