January 29, 2014
Carnegie Mellon University will award its 2013 Dickson Prize in Science to Karl Deisseroth, the D.H. Chen Professor of Bioengineering and Psychiatry at Stanford University. Deisseroth is best known for his contributions to optogenetics, a technique that has revolutionized how scientists study neurons in the brain.
December 20, 2013
To understand the link between circadian rhythm regulation and mood disorders requires unification of data and tools across multiple levels of inquiry, from DNA variation, cellular pathways, neural circuits, their dynamics and plasticity, to behavioral outcomes. The circadian-mood connection provides an exceptional opportunity to pursue cross-level integrated analyses.
Watch the video abstract on YouTube »
Read the article at the Wiley Online Library »
Nov 27, 2013
The Anna-Monika Prize is awarded bi-annually to clinical scientists who have made major contributions to the understanding of the underlining neurobiological mechanisms of depression and who have advanced the pharmacological options for affective disorders. In 2013, the Anna-Monika-Foundation was again privileged to honor a leading researcher for his groundbreaking work in the field.
This year’s Anna-Monika award winner is Prof. Alan F. Schatzberg, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, USA.
Prof. Schatzberg received the prize for his outstanding research into new therapy approaches, especially for the treatment of delusional depression. He is one of the leading North American clinical and scientific psychiatrists. In his research work, he focuses on the interactions between the stress hormone (cortisol) system and dopamine metabolism, both on a basic science basis and in clinical studies. A special merit of Prof. Schatzberg’s work is the early recognition of the significance of antiglucocorticoid therapies, for example with mifepristone (RU486), and their possible introduction into psychiatric practice. This research approach implemented by Prof. Schatzberg and his group was adopted by a number of companies and is undergoing Phase III clinical trials. In addition, Prof. Schatzberg has supported the use of antiglucocorticoid therapeutic methods by systematic neurobiological research, including neuroendocrine studies, genetics, brain imaging as well as studies of cognition and its relationship to cortisol activity. Prof. Schatzberg’s work has contributed both to a better understanding of the pathophysiology of severe depression disorders and to the development of novel treatment approaches.
There is more to mood disorders, such as bipolar disorder and major depression, than meets the clinician’s eye. Fortunately, scientists such as Jun Li, Ph.D. are probing the genetic underpinnings of such diseases in pursuit of knowledge on which to build better therapies. Dr. Li, an Assistant Professor of Human Genetics at University of Michigan and a Rising Star Awardee in 2011, has just discovered 3 new candidate genes for bipolar disorder, and found a gene expression pattern underlying the disrupted sleep cycles of persons with mood disorders.
Huda Akil, Ph.D., University of Michigan
August 15, 2013
“When I was growing up in Damascus, the notion that a little Syrian girl could become a scientist seemed like an impossible dream,” she wrote in a commentary for the Washington Times. But the little girl with the big dream is now internationally renowned Huda Akil, Ph.D., Gardner C. Quarton Professor of Neurosciences in Psychiatry at the University of Michigan Medical School and co-director and senior research professor at the university’s Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute.
A pioneer of what is now called systems neuroscience, Dr. Akil has made seminal contributions to the understanding of the neurobiology of emotions and the interplay between pain, anxiety, depression, stress, and substance abuse. “Dr. Huda Akil’s scientific work has transformed our understanding of the molecular, anatomical, and behavioral mechanisms of emotionality,” said James O. Woolliscroft, M.D., dean and Lyle C. Roll Professor of Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School.