Two Yale Department of Psychiatry researchers and a scientist from the Yale Department of Neuroscience have been awarded Young Investigator Grants from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.
Terril L. Verplaetse, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry; Heather Snell, PhD, assistant professor of neuroscience; and Zachary Harvanek, MD, PhD, assistant professor of psychiatry, are among 150 early career scientists worldwide honored with the award.
Collectively, those scientists will share over $10.4 million in grants to pursue innovative mental health research. The scientists are seeking to identify causes, improve treatments, and develop methods of prevention for psychiatric illnesses that impact millions of people in the United States and throughout the world.
Since 1987, the foundation has awarded more than $461 million to fund more than 5,600 leading scientists around the world.
The 2024 Young Investigators are focused on a broad range of psychiatric illnesses that impact millions of people in the United States and around the world. More than half of the projects are relevant to the study or treatment of depression and schizophrenia.
Addiction/substance-use disorders, anxiety, and PTSD, as well as the prevention of suicide are also the focus of many of the 2024 projects. Attention to these areas indicates the prevalence of these disorders in the population and the urgent need for new and improved treatments.
The Yale scientists will conduct the following projects:
Verplaetse: Examine local production of cortisol in the brain using the novel radiotracer [18F] FMOZAT together with state-of-the-art PET imaging to measure levels of 11ß-HSD1, a cortisol-regenerating enzyme, in the living human brain in individuals with alcohol use disorder
Snell: Investigate mechanisms underlying motor and non-motor impairment in the context of autism spectrum disorder-ADHD by utilizing two mouse models generated to express a potentially causally linked CACNA1A mutation either throughout the brain, or in specific cerebellar Purkinje cells
Harvanek: Address a gap in our understanding of the response to stress at the molecular level by investigating the role of DNA methylation in acute stress responses among trauma-exposed individuals.
“BBRF Young Investigators represent a new generation of researchers who will pioneer breakthroughs in mental health research. They are at the cutting edge of progress in brain and psychiatric research,” said Dr. Jeffrey Borenstein, president & CEO of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. “We are excited to be able to support the work of these young scientists who will apply powerful new technologies and insights to understanding, treating, and curing mental illness.”
The 2024 Young Investigator recipients were selected by the foundation’s Scientific Council, comprised of 195 prominent scientists with expertise in every area of brain research. This year the Scientific Council reviewed more than 700 applications. Of the 150 award recipients, 74 percent of grantees are from the United States (111 grantees). Twenty-six percent of grantees come from 14 other countries (39 grantees): Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, The Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Uganda, and the United Kingdom.
“BBRF Young Investigator grants fund groundbreaking research aimed at reducing suffering in people with mental illness,” said Dr. Judith Ford, president of the BBRF Scientific Council and co-chair of the Young Investigator Grant Selection Committee. “These early-career scientists are pushing the boundaries in basic and clinical research to establish new approaches to early prediction, prevention, and intervention, and to develop next-generation therapies that offer hope for those with brain and behavior illnesses.”
For detailed information about the Young Investigator Grant recipients and their projects, please click HERE.
About Brain & Behavior Research Foundation
The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation awards research grants to develop improved treatments, cures, and methods of prevention for mental illness. These illnesses include addiction, ADHD, anxiety, autism, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, depression, eating disorders, OCD, PTSD, and schizophrenia, as well as research on suicide prevention.