Barrow Neurological Institute At ST. Joseph's Hospital And Medical Center

Barrow Neurological Institute At ST. Joseph's Hospital And Medical Center, a tax-exempt subsidiary of Dignity Health operating from Phoenix, Arizona, acts as a federal grant recipient conducting preclinical and translational neuroscience research for the National Institutes of Health and Defense Health Agency. The institute operates as a prime recipient on three grants and as a sub-recipient on six additional federal research awards, reflecting a posture skewed toward subaward participation in larger research consortia rather than sole-PI leadership.

Barrow's grant portfolio centers on neurological disease mechanisms and therapeutic development. As a prime recipient, Barrow holds a $619,392 R01 project grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (CFDA 93.853) running through May 31, 2031, investigating molecular mechanisms of early brain injury following aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage with focus on sex-based differences in patient outcomes using cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers and human forebrain organoids. The institute also received a $464,514 R21 award from NINDS (CFDA 93.853) dated August 15, 2026, for initial safety and target-site evaluation of MNP-05, a manganese-porphyrin-based superoxide-dismutase mimic compound, for subarachnoid hemorrhage treatment, running through July 31, 2028. A third prime grant of $840,000 from the Defense Health Agency (CFDA 12.420) dated July 1, 2026, funds investigation of M6A dysregulation in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis via small molecule therapeutic approaches, completing June 30, 2028. All work is performed in Phoenix, Arizona.

In its sub-recipient role, Barrow collaborates with Van Andel Research Institute on a gene therapy project addressing neurotoxicity in Parkinson's disease under Dr. Lena Brundin's NINDS-funded work, with Barrow responsible for generating in vivo animal subjects, performing necropsies, and providing tissue to the prime laboratory. Barrow also participates as a sub-recipient in the Regents of the University of California, San Francisco's Veri-T Phase 1 placebo-controlled trial of Verdiperstat for semantic variant primary progressive aphasia and in Epilepsy Foundation of America-led work as a research collaborator.

Customer concentration is narrow and health-research-focused: the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke accounts for four awards across the portfolio, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention two awards, and the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, National Institute on Aging, and Defense Health Agency one award each. Combined dollars obligated across all nine awards total $2.6 million. Activity has accelerated — one award in 2019 to six in 2026 — though only two awards face ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months. Barrow's research capability portfolio emphasizes preclinical cerebrovascular disease modeling, drug development and pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic assessment, human brain organoids and cell biology, and translational neuroscience pipeline development to advance therapies from bench to clinical application.