Four early-career researchers from CU Anschutz have earned a spot in the prestigious 2026 class of Boettcher Investigators, receiving $250,000 grants to advance innovative biomedical research that could shape the future of patient care.
Awarded through the Boettcher Foundation’s Webb-Waring Biomedical Research Awards Program, the grants provide up to three years of funding to help emerging scientists pursue bold ideas and build momentum for future state, federal and private research support. The program is designed to invest in researchers at a pivotal stage of their careers, helping transform promising discoveries into meaningful advances in health and medicine.
This year’s CU Anschutz honorees are tackling a wide range of health challenges:
- Alessandra Brambati, PhD, Department of Pharmacology, CU Anschutz School of Medicine: Regulation of microhomology-mediated end-joining during cell division.
- John Janetzko, PhD, Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, CU Anschutz School of Medicine and CU Anschutz Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences: All swell doesn’t end well: investigating how GPCR signaling dysfunction affects cell-volume regulation in disease.
- Katherine Kissler, CNM, PhD, CU Anschutz College of Nursing: Dynamic digital physiological signatures of impending intraamniotic infection.
- Kentaro Yomogida, MD, Section of Rheumatology, Department of Pediatrics, CU Anschutz School of Medicine: NK cell–fibroblast crosstalk in the pathogenesis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
The four CU Anschutz researchers are among eight investigators selected statewide for the 2026 cohort. Their projects reflect the breadth of biomedical innovation taking place across Colorado and highlight CU Anschutz’s role in advancing discoveries that improve human health.
With this year’s honorees, University of Colorado researchers have now earned 80 Boettcher Investigator awards, bringing nearly $18.9 million in biomedical research funding to the CU system over the life of the program.
Photo at top: from left, Alessandra Brambati, PhD, John Janetzko, PhD, Katherine Kissler, CNM, PhD, and Kentaro Yomogida, MD
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