NARSAD Honors Groundbreaking Advances in MH Research

Lieber Prize for Schizophrenia Research was presented to David Lewis, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, for his work in furthering the understanding of the origins and functional changes of schizophrenia. He was the first to apply DNA micro-array technology successfully to the study of the disease.

Falcone Prize for Affective Disorders Research was presented to Jan Fawcett, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at the University of New Mexico, and Alan Schatzberg, M.D., chair of psychiatry at Stanford University. Fawcett was recognized for his lifelong contributions to the understanding and treatment of bipolar disorder and suicide prevention. Schatzberg was honored for his work with the stress hormone cortisol and the neurotransmitter dopamine and its metabolites related to psychotic depression, which has led to novel treatment approaches.

Ruane Prize for Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Research went to Allan Reiss, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at Stanford University. With an exceptional technical expertise in deep brain structure imaging, he has specialized in studies of children with neurodevelopmental and neurogenetic disorders.

Goldman-Rakic Prize for Cognitive Neuroscience was presented to Bruce McEwen, Ph.D., head of the laboratory of neuroendocrinology at Rockefeller University. His work has contributed greatly to the understanding of stress and stress hormones in a range of disorders, including depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and the early stages of dementia.

Sidney R. Baer Jr. Prize for a promising young investigator was given to Takanori Hashimoto, M.D., Ph.D., a research assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh. Hashimoto is investigating mechanisms that contribute to alterations in inhibitory neurons in the prefrontal cortex of subjects with schizophrenia, which account for some of the behavior changes associated with the illness.

Staglin Family Music Festival Schizophrenia Research Award, which is designated for an outstanding scientist under the age of 45, went to Linda Brzustowicz, M.D., a professor of genetics at Rutgers University. She was recognized for her pioneering work in psychiatric genetics, having identified one of a handful of genes currently thought to be related to schizophrenia.▪