Stiles-Nicholson Foundation Gives $85K to Fund ASCEND

by Chelsey Matheson | Tuesday, Jun 24, 2025

Two women and a man stand in the foreground smiling at the camera. One woman is handing another woman a check. They are surrounded by young students in matching purple shirts.

The Stiles-Nicholson Foundation recently gifted $85,000 to Florida Atlantic University’s Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute (SNBI), providing essential funding to sustain and expand the ASCEND (Advancing STEM-community Engagement through Neuroscience Discovery) initiative – an innovative neuroscience education program focused on engaging middle school students across South Florida.

Launched to ignite interest about the brain and promote STEM career pathways, ASCEND delivers immersive, hands-on neuroscience learning experiences during a critical time in a student’s development. Through classroom visits, field trips to the SNBI, traveling neuroscience vans, and interactive lessons led by FAU scientists, ASCEND makes cutting-edge brain research accessible, exciting, and relevant for early adolescents, especially those in under-resourced schools.

“The continued support of the Stiles-Nicholson Foundation helps ensure that we can keep ASCEND moving forward - reaching new students, expanding to additional schools, and deepening our impact in communities across the region,” said Nicole Baganz, Ph.D., director of ASCEND and community engagement and programming at the SNBI. “Together, we’re shaping the next generation of brain scientists.”

With philanthropic backing, ASCEND has grown rapidly – expanding from a local pilot program into a county-wide initiative that has reached more than 10,000 students to date. The Foundation’s most recent gift will help support the critical personnel and educational tools that drive ASCEND’s programming year-round. This includes classroom visits, field trips to SNBI, neuroscience summer camps, and a suite of multimedia educational content – all designed and delivered by graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty. to show how basic brain research connects to the real world.

“Scientific discovery is impossible without community engagement,” said Randy Blakely, Ph.D., executive director of the SNBI and the David J.S. Nicholson Distinguished Professor in Neuroscience. “ASCEND is helping to ensure that the next generation understands the importance of brain science and is equipped, and inspired, to carry it forward.”

ASCEND depends on community support and philanthropy to continue growing and reaching students throughout our region. To learn how you can support ASCEND, visit www.fau.edu/brain/drive-brain-research.

A woman stands beside another woman and man, both seated, in front of a screen with a neuron microscope image. All are smiling at the camera.

Kate Arrizza, executive director of the Stiles-Nicholson Foundation, with Nicole Baganz, Ph.D., director of ASCEND and community engagement and programming, and Randy D. Blakely, executive director, both at the Stiles-Nicholson Brain Institute.