At the November 21, 2025, Mission Connect Neurotrauma Symposium, Dr. Jae K. Lee from Miller School of Medicine at University of Miami delivered an outstanding presentation, “Wound Healing Mechanisms in the Injured CNS,” to an audience of more than 160 attendees. His talk was extremely well-received and highlighted important advances in our understanding of repair processes in the injured central nervous system.

We are thrilled to celebrate the outstanding poster presentation winners of Mission Connect’s 2025 Neurotrauma Symposium!

These emerging scientists impressed our reviewers with innovative ideas, rigorous methods, and bold approaches to understanding and treating brain and spinal cord injuries. Their work reflects the strength of Mission Connect’s collaborative research community and the future of neurotrauma discovery.

Congratulations to all of this year’s winners—your science inspires progress, hope, and possibility.

Congratulations to all the winners.

Overall SCI – Joseph Sandoval- UTMB

Overall TBI – AJ Walters, UTHealth & Rice University

Overall TBI – Shayla Villapol-Tregen, Houston Methodist

SCI Postdoc/Fellow Award, 1st Place – Katerina Stephankova, TAMU

SCI Postdoc/Fellow Award, 2nd Place – Shane King, Rice

SCI Graduate Student Award, 1st Place – Ashley Douthitt, TAMU

SCI Graduate Student Award, 2nd Place – Ashley Tran, TAMU

TBI Postdoc/Fellow Award, 1st Place – Michaela Edmond, TAMU

TBI Postdoc/Fellow Award, 2nd Place – Patrick Devlin, UTHealth

TBI Graduate Student Award, 1st Place – Joseph Reitman, BCM

TBI Graduate Student Award, 2nd Place – Saloni Tipnis, TAMU

Other Category Award, 1st Place – Sailee Lavekar, Houston Methodist

Other Category Award, 2nd Place – Marissa Burke, Houston Methodist