Late neuroscientist honored

In recognition of her pioneering work on the brain’s frontal lobe and her studies of the cerebral cortex and its links to schizophrenia, the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) has created a prize to honor Patricia S. Goldman-Rakic, Ph.D., who died in July after being struck by a car. And in November, Pfizer announced that it will fund a graduate fellowship in neuroscience in honor of Goldman-Rakic, the Eugene Higgins Professor of Neurobiology. Each year, an outstanding graduate student in the Combined Program in Biological and Biomedical Sciences will receive full support for a year’s study.

NARSAD announced The Dr. Patricia S. Goldman-Rakic Memorial Prize for Cognitive Achievement in Neuroscience in October. The annual $40,000 prize will reward “excellence in neurobiological research at the cellular, physiological, or behavioral levels that may lead to a greater understanding of major psychiatric disease.”

The first recipient of the award is Solomon H. Snyder, M.D., chair of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins and a longtime friend and collaborator of Goldman-Rakic. Snyder discovered the role nitric oxides play as a class of neurotransmitter in the brain and created techniques for understanding and manipulating brain receptors.