NARSAD Young Investigator Grant

Congratulations to the 2012 NARSAD Young Investigator Grantees!

Since 1987, the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation has awarded:

The NARSAD Young Investigator Grant provides support for the most promising young scientists conducting neurobiological research. Two year awards up to $60,000, or $30,000 per year are provided to enable promising investigators to either extend research fellowship training or begin careers as independent research faculty. Basic and/or clinical investigators are supported, but research must be relevant to serious brain and behavior disorders such as schizophrenia, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, or child and adolescent mental illnesses.

A few NARSAD Young Investigators are selected each year to present at the foundation's annual Scientific Symposium in New York City. NARSAD Young Investigators are also eligible to be selected for the Foundation’s Freedman Prize for Outstanding Basic Research and Klerman Prize for Outstanding Clinical Research. Selection is based upon outstanding research as outlined in the final progress report of the NARSAD Grant project.

The NARSAD Young Investigator Grants have proven to be catalytic— our survey shows they have led to subsequent grant funding on average 11 times the original grant amount. Here are a few examples of NARSAD Young Investigators who have pioneered breakthroughs in mental health research:

Helen S. Mayberg, M.D.

Professor, Psychiatry, Behavioral Sciences, Neurology
Emory University School of Medicine
Scientific Council member
NARSAD Young, Independent, Distinguished Investigator

• Advanced Deep Brain Stimulation in treatment of depression, targeting ‘area 25,’ a place in the brain she earlier found to be an important locus of depression pathology
• Since initial Young Investigator grant funding in 1991, has received related subsequent funding of $8.5 million or 140 times the original NARSAD Grant amount
   

Mark S. George, M.D.

Distinguished Professor, Psychiatry, Radiology, Neuroscience
Medical University of South Carolina
Scientific Council member
NARSAD Young and Independent Investigator

• Developed Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, a new kind of non-invasive brain stimulation as an alternative for electroconvulsive therapy in treatment-resistant depression— FDA approval received in 2008
• Following the initial NARSAD Grant, numerous NIMH, Department of Defense and VA awards valued at several millions of dollars furthered the development of this now FDA approved treatment.
   

Karl Deisseroth, M.D., Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Bioengineering, Psychiatry, Behavioral Sciences
Stanford University
Scientific Council member
NARSAD Young Investigator

 

• Invented optogenetics, an experimental method involving the use of light to make neurons fire one at a time, opening new vistas to understand the mechanisms behind depression and other psychiatric illnesses
• Since intial Young Investigator grant funding in 2005, has received at least $3 million in related research funding or 50 times the original NARSAD Grant amount

Recent NARSAD Young Investigator Awardees List

See how NARSAD Grants forge the path from Discovery to Recovery in mental illness:
View our Breakthroughs Timeline

Questions? email us at grants@bbrfoundation.org.

NARSAD is an acronym for National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, the former name of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation