Javitt Honored for Research in Schizophrenia

Daniel Javitt, M.D., Ph.D., received the 2007 Dr. Alexander Gralnick Award from the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA). The Gralnick Award is conferred every two years in recognition of “exemplary work in research on, treatment of, or advocacy for children and adolescents with schizophrenia.”

Javitt is a psychiatrist and research scientist and heads the Program in Cognitive Neuroscience and Schizophrenia at the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research (NKI) in Orangeburg, N.Y. He is also a research professor at New York University School of Medicine.

The CWLA cited in particular a seminal 1991 study by Javitt that showed how glutamate/NMDA dysf unction influences the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and a study in 1994 that illustrated the effectiveness of the NMDA modulator in treating persistent negative and cognitive symptoms of the disorder. Subsequent studies conducted during the past 10 years have confirmed Javitt's findings and produced similar results using a second NMDA modulator, D-serine, according to a press release from the NKI.

Javitt also pioneered the use of event-related potential measures such as auditory mismatch negativity as an instrument for assessing brain mechanisms that underlie cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. His research found that people with schizophrenia exhibit severe deficits in very early stages of brain information processing, such as the ability to match tones after a brief pause or to detect faint visual images, an indication that cognitive deficits can manifest prior to the onset of symptoms.

NKI Director Harold Koplewicz, M.D, praised Javitt's work, saying,“ His research on the neurological underpinnings of schizophrenia paves the way for new efforts to identify and detect the illness early, reducing its toll on mentally ill children and adolescents, as well as their families.” ▪