Behind every research breakthrough is a scientist dedicated to finding answers. At The Homer Hack, we are proud to support these changemakers through the funds raised by our community. One of them is Dr. Agustin Cota-Coronado, whose work in stem cell research is opening new doors for people living with rare neurological conditions.
This year, Dr. Cota-Coronado was recognised on the world stage at the premier global forum for stem cell research, the ISSCR 2025 Annual Meeting in Hong Kong, where he received both a Travel Award and the prestigious ISSCR Zhongmei Chen Yong Award for Scientific Excellence.
We asked some questions about his research, the impact of The Homer Hack’s funding and what these breakthroughs could mean for families searching for hope.
What does receiving the ISSCR Zhongmei Chen Yong Award and Travel Award mean to you personally and professionally?
These awards are both a recognition of scientific excellence and a catalyst for future growth. Personally, they reflect the resilience and determination it has taken to establish a career in science across continents. Professionally, they affirm the global relevance of our research program and strengthen the visibility of human-specific stem cell platforms for psychiatric disease modelling.
How did it feel to present your work on a global stage in front of the world’s leading stem cell researchers?
It was a privilege to showcase our findings to the international community. Presenting at ISSCR not only validated the novelty of our approach but also created new opportunities for collaboration with world leaders in the field.
For those who aren’t scientists, how would you describe your ‘brain-on-a-chip’ platform and why it’s such a breakthrough?
We grow human brain cells from stem cells and organise them on a microchip that mimics how circuits in the brain communicate. This platform allows us to study psychiatric disease processes in a human-relevant system, reducing reliance on animal models and accelerating the discovery of new treatments.
What excites you most about the potential of this research to transform how psychiatric disorders are understood and treated?
For the first time, we can examine how human neurons and glia respond to disease-relevant stressors with single-cell precision. This opens the door to identifying disease mechanisms that are invisible in animal models and to developing targeted, personalised interventions.
Can you share a moment in your research where you realised you were onto something significant?
When our ‘brain-on-a-chip’ model showed that exposure to inflammatory signals disrupted neuronal connectivity in a way that mirrors patient brain tissue, it was a pivotal moment. It confirmed that our platform could capture clinically relevant biology.
How did Homer Hack funding contribute to making this research-and these awards-possible?
The support from The Homer Hack was transformative. It enabled us to take risks, prototype the first versions of the ‘brain-on-a-chip’, and generate pilot multi-omics datasets that directly led to international recognition.
What message would you like to share with the Homer Hack supporters who helped fund this work?
Your investment is directly accelerating breakthroughs in human brain research. These awards are not just an achievement for our lab-they are proof that your support is advancing innovative, human-specific science with the potential to transform psychiatry.
What are the next steps for your research? How do you see it growing in the next few years?
We will scale the ‘brain-on-a-chip’ platform, integrate advanced single-cell omics, and expand international collaborations. Over the next few years, we aim to establish a pipeline that links fundamental discoveries to actionable therapeutic strategies for psychiatric disorders.
At The Homer Hack, we are proud to stand behind researchers like Dr. Coronado, who are the visionaries who push science forward and bring us closer to answers, treatments and hope for those living with rare neurological conditions.
Together, we’re proving that every step, every breakthrough and every award starts with a choice to support research that matters.
