Shan Meltzer, assistant professor of pharmacology at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences, has been named a 2026 Sloan Research Fellow in neuroscience. Awarded annually since 1955, the prestigious fellowship recognizes exceptional early-career scientists whose creativity, innovation, and research accomplishments mark them as the next generation of leaders in their fields.
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation selected 126 fellows this year from 1,000 researchers across 44 institutions across the U.S. and Canada. Fellows are chosen by independent panels of senior scholars based on research achievements, originality, and potential for leadership. The two-year, $75,000 award provides flexible funding to advance recipients’ research programs.
“The Sloan Research Fellows are among the most promising early-career researchers in the U.S. and Canada, already driving meaningful progress in their respective disciplines,” said Stacie Bloom, president and chief executive officer of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in a release [PDF]. “We look forward to seeing how these exceptional scholars continue to unlock new scientific advancements, redefine their fields, and foster the wellbeing and knowledge of all.”
A Sloan Research Fellowship is widely considered one of the most competitive honors available to young investigators. To date, 59 fellows have gone on to win Nobel Prizes, and many others have received the National Medal of Science, the Fields Medal, or the John Bates Clark Medal.
Meltzer joined Vanderbilt in 2024 and is a member of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute and the Center for Computational Systems Biology. Her research seeks to understand how somatosensory circuits—those responsible for touch, pain, itch, and proprioception (the sense of self-movement, force, and body position)—are assembled during development. While much is known about the ventral spinal cord circuits that control movement, far less is understood about how the sensory neuron and spinal cord circuits responsible for sensory processing are built and organized.
Her laboratory integrates cutting-edge approaches, including spatial transcriptomics, single-cell RNA sequencing, advanced mouse genetics, two-photon imaging, physiology, and behavior. By combining molecular, cellular, physiological, and computational tools, Meltzer is constructing a comprehensive framework for understanding how the sensory and spinal cord circuits are built at molecular, cellular, physiological, and behavioral levels. At Vanderbilt, she is extending her research to investigate how spatial and molecular organization arises in the developing spinal cord and skin and how disruptions may contribute to sensory dysfunction, chronic pain, and nerve injury.
“I’m excited that Shan has been recognized with a Sloan Research Fellowship,” said Ege Kavalali, professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacology. “Her integrative and highly original approach to understanding somatosensory circuit development is opening entirely new directions in neurobiology. She has quickly established herself as a scientific leader and an outstanding mentor at Vanderbilt.”
“I am truly honored by this recognition from the Sloan Foundation. It is especially meaningful as an affirmation of both my past discoveries and future vision for elucidating the molecular and spatial logic of somatosensory circuit assembly,” Meltzer said. “I’m very grateful for the encouragement and support from the Department of Pharmacology and the Vanderbilt Brain Institute, as well as for the incredible trainees and collaborators who make this work possible.”
In 2025 Meltzer was awarded an Edward Mallinckrodt, Jr. Foundation Award and the C.J. Herrick Award in Neuroanatomy from the American Association for Anatomy. Her Sloan Research Fellowship further underscores Vanderbilt’s strength in neuroscience and computational biology and highlights the university’s continued investment in transformative, early-career investigators whose work is reshaping our understanding of the nervous system.