McLEAN IN THE NEWS
Thirteen McLean Researchers Recieve NARSAD Young Investigator Awards
June 30th, 2004
A record thirteen McLean researchers have received Young Investigator Awards from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD). These two-year, $60,000 grants are quite prestigious, and is testament both to the quality of McLean's research program and the caliber of the young researchers recruited and starting their careers here. Each recipient will receive $60,000 over the next two years to conduct his or her study. NARSAD's Scientific Review Council, composed of 75 scientists and academic leaders in all areas of neurobiological and psychiatric research, reviews hundreds of applications each year to find the most promising research proposals. This year's recipients include:
- Christopher Baethge, MD, visiting fellow in the Bipolar and Psychotic Disorders Clinic, who will investigate "Patterns of Substance Use Disorders in Early Stages of Bipolar Affective Disorder."
- Brent Forester, MD, psychiatrist in charge of the Special Care Unit, who will investigate "Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study of Treatment with Sertraline in Geriatric Depression."
- Dong-Youn Hwang, PhD, research fellow in the Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, who will investigate "Effects of Region Specific Alteration of Norepinephrine Transporter Expression in Animal Models of Depression."
- John E.N. Jensen, PhD, post doctoral research fellow in the Brain Imaging Center, who will investigate "Brain GABA Levels in Patients with Panic Disorder."
- Yong Ke, PhD, assistant physicist in the Brain Imaging Center, who will investigate "Multiparametric Assessment of NAA in Schizophrenia: A J-Resolved One-Dimensional MRS Study."
- Jianyi Ma, PhD, a research associate in the Molecular Pharmacology Laboratory, who will investigate "Functional Characterization of Specific Neurons Responding to Antipsychotic Drugs."
- Constance Mary Moore, PhD, assistant physicist in the Brain Imaging Center, who will investigate "Brain-to-Serum Lithium Ratio in the Elderly: An In Vivo Lithium Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Study."
- Beth Logan Murphy, MD, PhD, a resident in the Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Hospital Adult Psychiatry Residency Training Program, who will investigate "Treatment of Cognitive Impairment and Residual Symptoms in the SSRI Partial Responder."
- Dost Ongur, MD, PhD, a resident in the Massachusetts General Hospital/McLean Hospital Adult Psychiatry Residency Training Program, who will investigate "The Role of the Medial Temporal Lobe and Medial Prefrontal Cortex in Paired Object Recognition in Subjects with Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder."
- Jonathan Picker, MBChB, PhD, assistant child psychiatrist in Child Outpatient Services, who will investigate "The Effect of Homocysteine During Mouse Development on Behavior and Neural Gene Expression Patterns Linked with Schizophrenia."
- Paola Salvatore, MD, research associate in the Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorders Program, who will investigate "Onset and Outcome in First-Psychotic Episode Subjects."
- Peter Siekmeier, MS, MD, research fellow in the Psychology Research Laboratory, who will investigate "The Use of a Computation Model of Hippocampus Subfield CA1 to Examine the Neuropathology of Schizophrenia."
- Chun Zuo, PhD, physicist in the Brain Imaging Center, who will investigate "MRI to Assess Membrane Fluidity Effect of Omega-3 Fatty Acids."
