Scoliosis Research Society Announces 2026 Research Grant Award Winners

During Annual Meeting of the Scoliosis Research Society (SRS), members announced the 2026 Research Grant Award Winners. The total for this year's funding is more than $400,000 dedicated to spine research.

All research grant applications are reviewed and selected by the SRS Research Grant Committee. Congratulations to the following grant winners:

Standard Research Grants:

Prospective Validation of an Artificial Intelligence Platform for Real-Time Intraoperative Neuromonitoring (IONM) in Spine Surgery, Michael Vitale, MD, MPH, for $75,000

Epigenetic Aging in Adult Spinal Deformity: Longitudinal Effects of Surgical Correction on Biological Age and Recovery, Brian Neuman, MD, for $65,730

Deterministic Patient-Specific Biomechanical Simulation of Posterior Fusion Strategies in Lenke 5 AIS, Alexandria Mallinos, PhD, for $60,000

New Investigator Grants:

Mechanisms of Spinal Stiffening After Growing Rod Insertion, Blake Montgomery, MD, for $30,000

A Wearable-Based Gait Index for Monitoring Functional Recovery After Spinal Arthrodesis for Adult Spinal Deformity, Theo Cojean, PhD, for $30,000

Resident/Fellow:

Morphological Apical Intervertebral Disc and Vertebral Characteristics as Predictors of Curve Progression in AIS Conor Boylan, MBChB, BSc, MSc, for $5,547.

The Neurobiology of Deformity Correction: imaging neurovascular dynamics during reduction maneuvers, TJ Florence for $9,997.

Patient-Specific Vertebral Strength Estimation from Preoperative CT Predicts Proximal Junctional Failure After Adult Spinal Deformity Surgery, Syed Khalid, MD, for $9,852.

Noninvasive Auricular Vagal Nerve Stimulation for Reducing Inflammation After Long-Segment Fusion for Adult Spinal Deformity, Alexander Yahanda, MS, for $10,000.

Exploratory Micro Grant:

SpineRAG: A Retrieval-Augmented Generation System for AI-Assisted Consensus in Spinal Deformity, Chuck Lam for $3,500

Time-Dependent Stiffening 4D-Printed Braces to Improve Compliance in AIS, Weichen Qi, MS, for $5,000.

Since 1994, SRS has provided more than $8.6 million for 244spinal deformity research projects at 115 institutions in 15 countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Spain and the Netherlands. These have included studies on improved spinal cord monitoring during surgery, brace treatment effectiveness, methods to improve fusion rates, and three large studies looking for the cause of idiopathic scoliosis.

For more information on SRS Grant opportunities, visit our website. To contribute to grant research funding, review all the ways you can donate to SRS.

About Scoliosis Research Society

The Scoliosis Research Society is a non-profit, professional organization, made up of physicians and allied health personnel. Our primary focus is on providing continuing medical education for health care professionals and on funding/supporting research in spinal deformities. Founded in 1966, SRS has gained recognition as the world's premier spine deformity society. Please visit www.srs.org for further information. Also follow us on X, Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.