Hilary Blumberg, MD, John and Hope Furth Professor of Psychiatric Neuroscience and Professor of Psychiatry, and in the Child Study Center and of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, has been chosen to receive the 2018 American Psychiatric Association Foundation Blanche F. Ittleson Award.
The award was established in 1976 in memory of philanthropist Blanche F. Ittleson. It recognizes outstanding and published research in child and adolescent psychiatry that has resulted in, or promises to lead to, a significant advance in promoting the mental health of children. The award is funded by a grant from the Ittleson Foundation.
Blumberg will receive the award at the APA annual meeting May 8 in New York.
She was nominated for the award in recognition of her substantial contributions in child and adolescent psychiatry.
She has been at the forefront of research into mood disorders in children. In 2017, her study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry found structural and functional differences in the brains of adolescents and young adults with bipolar disorder who have attempted suicide compared with those who have not. The study was named in the top 10 list of research advancements and breakthroughs in 2017 by the Brain & Behavior Foundation.
Blumberg is Director of the Mood Disorders Research Program, which brings together a multi-disciplinary group of scientists to study the genetic factors, and environmental factors such as early life stress, that underlie the development of brain differences in mood disorders.
The program is regarded internationally as a leading laboratory in the effort to develop new methods for early detection of mood disorders, more effective interventions, and prevention. The program is also known for training young scientists to be new leaders in the field.
Blumberg has received numerous other honors and multiple grant awards, including funding from the National Institutes of Health, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, International Bipolar Disorder Foundation, National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Depression, Stanley Medical Research Institute, and from Women’s Health Research at Yale.