NARSAD is the world's leading mental health research charity. Since its inception 20 years ago, it has awarded more than 3,200 research grants totaling more than $219 million to scientists working in the United States and 26 other countries.
At its annual fundraising gala last month, NARSAD awarded annual prizes for achievement in mental health research. These awards went to the following scientists:
♦ The Lieber Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Schizophrenia Research was awarded to Eve Johnstone, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. For more than three decades she has used advanced brain-imaging methods to elucidate structural and functional changes associated with schizophrenia. According to William Bunney Jr., M.D., chair of NARSAD's Lieber Prize Selection Committee, “She initiated the most replicated finding in the literature on psychosis—enlargement of the lateral ventricles in the brain.”
♦ The Falcone Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Mood Disorders Research went to Helen Mayberg, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at Emory University. For more than 20 years she has used functional neuroimaging to examine neural mechanisms implicated in the onset of depression. She also hypothesized, on the basis of the information she had collected, that the anterior cingulate cortex was pivotal in regulating depressed mood and proceeded to stimulate this region electrically. Thus, deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression was born. “A number of the most treatment-resistant patients who received this treatment have shown remarkable antidepressant responses,” Robert Post, M.D., chair of NARSAD's Falcone Prize Selection Committee, commented.
♦ The Ruane Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Research was given to James Leckman, M.D., a professor of child psychiatry at Yale University. His research has focused on autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Tourette's disorder. His main research interest is the interaction between genes and environment in obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette's. “He has also organized one of the premier clinical and research training programs in child psychiatry, which will guarantee excellent clinical research for our next generation,” Judith Rapoport, M.D., chair of the Ruane Prize Selection Committee, said.
♦ The Goldman-Rakic Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Cognitive Neuroscience was given to Huda Akil, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the University of Michigan. Akil has made valuable contributions to understanding the neurobiology of emotions, including pain, anxiety, and depression. Early on, she and her colleagues provided the first physiological evidence for the role of endorphins in the brain and showed that endorphins are activated by stress and inhibit pain.
♦ The Sidney R. Baer Jr. Prize for Schizophrenia Research went to Jeremy Hall, M.D., Ph.D., a research council fellow at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Hall has been studying genetic factors influencing cognitive function in major mental disorders. His work integrates neuroimaging and neuropsychology with genetics. ▪
NARSAD started awarding a prize for schizophrenia research 20 years ago. Since then other prizes have been added to recognize scientists whose creative thinking and hard work have advanced mental health research.
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.
For more information or tips please see 'Downloading to a citation manager' in the Help menu.
To download the citation to this article, select your reference manager software.
There are no citations for this item
View Options
View options
Get Access
Login options
Already a subscriber? Access your subscription through your login credentials or your institution for full access to this article.
PsychiatryOnline subscription options offer access to the DSM-5-TR® library, books, journals, CME, and patient resources. This all-in-one virtual library provides psychiatrists and mental health professionals with key resources for diagnosis, treatment, research, and professional development.
Need more help? PsychiatryOnline Customer Service may be reached by emailing [email protected] or by calling 800-368-5777 (in the U.S.) or 703-907-7322 (outside the U.S.).