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Harvard professor and Broad Institute member Paola Arlotta received the Momentum Award from the International Society of Stem Cell Research, a nonprofit organization committed to promoting human health through in stem cell research, for her work on neurological diseases and stem cell-derived brain organoids.

The Momentum Award focuses on honoring and recognizing the achievements of an active scientist who “has established a major area of stem cell-related research with a strong trajectory for future success,” and is supported by Bluerock Therapeutics, according to the ISSCR website.

Arlotta works on growing brain organoids — small apple seed sized pieces of brain tissue — for longer periods of time and is changing the way stem cell research is conducted.

“Having the capacity to start with a sample of blood, which is a tissue that you can take from a human being and turn that into this small replica human brain organoids, small avatars I like to call them of the brain, and being able to study them in the lab can really open the door to all sorts of discoveries” Arlotta said.

Arlotta, who is particularly interested in autism spectrum disorder and other neurological conditions, said the ability to screen and develop drugs “on the very same tissue of the very same group of patients” that you want to treat is extremely important and can lead to more targeted treatments.

“Research tools in academic labs are now transitioning to be extremely powerful tools for development of new therapeutics” Arlotta said.

Several of Arlotta lab members lauded her approach to research, mentorship, and collaboration.

Giorgia Quadrato, an assistant professor of stem cell biology and regenerative medicine at University of Southern California and former postdoctoral fellow in Arlotta’s lab, described her as “extremely supportive.”

“I felt I had the freedom to pursue the questions that were interesting to me,” Quadrato said.

Sebastiano Trattaro, a Harvard postdoctoral fellow in Arlotta’s lab, said that Arlotta is “able to tell you the vision of the next ten years, of everything that is related to cortical development and sensory research.”

Quadrato said Arlotta has a very brave and innovative approach to research that goes “against the established dogma” in neuroscience.

With Arlotta’s guidance in determining a research focus, Trattaro “learned how to structure research projects with specific questions, and how to find the question that is right” for his interests.

“In my meetings with her, she pushed me beyond the boundaries so that I could think another aspect that I wasn’t considering before.” Trattaro said.

Anqi Wei, a computational scientist at the Broad Institute and research scientist in Arlotta’s lab, emphasized the benefits of collaboration.

“Paola’s lab is a pool of really highly dense intralab collaborations” Wei said. “I find interacting with the biologists can help me understand how my expertise can facilitate the research.”

Quadrato went on to call Arlotta an “amazing role model” who believes in her trainees and continues to provide encouragement.

“I left six years ago, and we are in touch a lot still,” Quadrato said.

Arlotta said that the award is not just an acknowledgement of her work, but a testament to the team she has worked with in her lab.

“It’s never just about you, it’s really about a team of amazing individuals, trainees, students, postdocs, who I have really the privilege to work with in the lab every day,” she said.