Sackler Awardees

• Akina Umemoto Adolescent Major Depressive Disorder: Arousal versus Motivational Risk Markers
• Yun Wang Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Develop Novel Tools for Studying Infant Brain Development

• Wei-li Chang Neural Circuitry Controlling Anxiety and Anhedonia at a Cellular Level, Using a Mouse Model for Early Life Stress. Dr. Chang received an NIMH K01 Career Development Award entitled Early Life Stress Effects on Ventral Hippocampal Microcircuitry During Emotional Behaviors.
• Alessia Mastrodonato: received a second year of funding for her research on the Developmental impact of adolescent ketamine administration on stress-induced susceptibility in adulthood.

• Dr. Alessia Mastrodonato: Developmental impact of adolescent ketamine administration on stress-induced susceptibility in adulthood
• Dr. Piray Atsak received a second year of funding for her research on Early-life stress, neural circuits, and increased susceptibility to depressive states later in life. Dr. Atsak received an NIMH K01 Career Development Award entitled Dissecting the Role of Long Range Prefrontal Circuits in Early-Life Stress Induced Susceptibility.

• Dr. Piray Atsak Early-life stress, neural circuits, and increased susceptibility to depressive states later in life

• Dr. Deepika Suri Role of peri-adolescent dopamine in shaping adult dopamine circuit activity and impulsive behavior

• Dr. Kate Nautiyal, Developmental influence of the serotonin 1B receptor (5-HT1BR) on adult aggressive behavior. Dr. Nautiyal received an NIMH K99 Career Development award entitled Dissecting Serotonergic and Dopamingergic Contributions to the Neural Circuits Underlying Impulsive Behavior. Dr. Nautiyal also received a NARSAD Young Investigator Award entitled The Role of the Serotonin 1B Receptor in the Development of Impulsive Aggression.
• Dr. Kristina Denisova, Using computational modeling to understand risk factors for autism in early life
• Dr. Alvaro Garcia, Identifying windows of vulnerability/plasticity for therapeutic intervention
• Dr. Martha Cagliostro, Developmental effects of two distinct SERT populations on cognition and affect in adulthood

• Dr. Sarah Canetta received a second year of funding for her research on Maternal inflammatory response during pregnancy as a risk factor for offspring neurodevelopmental disorders. Dr. Canetta received an NIMH K01 Career Development Award to study the effects of maternal immune activation on offspring GABA circuitry and behavior.
• Dr. Julie Spicer, Neurobiology of the distressed maternal-infant dyad. Dr. Spicer received an NICHD K99 Career Development Award to investigate a novel approach to understanding SES-based compromised maternal well-being, which is so detrimental to children’s future health

• Dr. Sarah Canetta,  Maternal inflammatory response during pregnancy as a risk factor for offspring neurodevelopmental disorders
• Dr. Maria Milekic received a second year of funding for her research in paternal age and epigenetic inheritance in psychiatric disease.

• Dr. Maria Milekic received funding for her research in paternal age and epigenetic inheritance in psychiatric disease. Dr. Milekic received a NARSAD award to further study the link between older fathers and mental illness.
• Dr. Mazen Kheirbek received funding for his research aimed at understanding how dysfunction in dentate gyrus subregion of the hippocampus contributes to the manifestation post-traumatic stress disorder in animal models. Dr. Kheirbek received an NIMH K01 Career Development Award to study the optogenetic dissection of dentate gyrus circuitry underlying anxiety. Faculty Profile | Press Release

• Dr. Andrew Gerber received a second year of funding for his research in “An fMRI Investigation of Social Cognitive Deficits in Adults with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder” Faculty Profile

• Dr. Andrew Gerber received of funding for his research in “An fMRI Investigation of Social Cognitive Deficits in Adults with High Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder”
• Dr. Torfi Sigurdsson received funding for his research study “Electrophysiological Investigation of Neural Circuits Subserving Working Memory in a Genetic Developmental Mouse Model of Schizophrenia.” Dr. Sigurdsson received a NARSAD Young Investigator Award. Lab website

(All 2008 awardees received a second year of funding.)

• Dr. Tiziano Colibazzi received funding for his research on Longitudinal Imaging in Adolescents Prodromal for Schizophrenia. Dr. Colibazzi received an NIMH K23 Career Development Award. Faculty Profile
• Dr. Amar Sahay, Understanding how experience dependent plasticity mechanisms encode vulnerability to anxiety disorders: A role for Klf-9 dependent neural circuit maturation Faculty Profile | Lab website
  Related Awards:
  • 2008-2010   NARSAD YI Award
  • 2009-2014 NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00)
  • 2010 ACNP (American College of Neuropsychopharmacology) Early Career Travel Award
  • 2011 NCDEU New Investigator Award (American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology)
  • 2011 SFN (Society for Neuroscience) Janett Rosenberg Trubatch

(All 2006 awardees received a second year of funding.)

• Dr. Philip Grieve, Initiate study of  EEG power and coherence in young children with autism spectrum disorders in response to visual and auditory stimuli  
• Dr. Rachel Marsh, Self-Regulatory Control and Habit Learning in Adolescents with Bulimia Nervosa Lab website | Study website

“The Sackler award allowed me to begin using fMRI and neuropsychological measures to study adolescents with Bulimia Nervosa, data that lead to my receipt of a Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K award) from NIH and a NARSAD to study this population, and I now have an R01 to study adolescents with BN longitudinally, using multimodal MRI.”

• Dr. Amir Levine received an NIDA R01 to to undertake a molecular analysis of the gateway hypothesis in mice. Website | Faculty Profile

• Dr. Mark Ansorge received funding for his study of the role of serotonin function on brain development, the development of behaviors related to anxiety and depressive disorders in humans, to employ transgenic mice with mutations in the serotonin related genes and drugs affecting the serotonin system in early development. Dr. Ansorge received an NIMH K99 Career Development Award and currently has an RO1 to study the developmental origins of aggressive and impulsive behavior.  Faculty Profile
• Dr. Jonathan Polan   Website

• Dr. Cheryl Corcoran R21 “Olfaction in the psychosis prodrome: behavioral and ERP measures” (PI); 2009-2012), CTSA Fellows Program “Personalized prevention across medicine:  A translational approach”, PI of subcontracts/Investigator: “Longitudinal Imaging of Patients at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis” and “Conte Center for Schizophrenia Research.” Faculty Profile

• Dr. Cheryl Corcoran, “A Prospective Study of Life Events and Psychosis Onset in Prodromal Individuals.” Corcoran received an NIMH K23 Career Development Award to undertake a prospective assessment of the schizophrenia prodrome, specifically risk factors, intervening variables and markers associated with the onset of psychosis.
  

  “The Sackler Award was instrumental in my launching my research on the schizophrenia prodrome. It also along with the Pisetsky Award provided seed money to initiate the Center of Prevention and Evaluation, a prospective cohort study of prodromal individuals that continues now 10 years later.”

  Related Awards:

  • NARSAD Young Investigator Award (on the same topic, to continue the work; 2002-2006)
  • NIMH K23 Award entitled: “Schizophrenia risk to onset: Neurobiology and prevention” (with complementary Ruane funding from the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry); 2004-2009
  • APIRE/Kempf award; 2006-2007 ($20,000),
  • Ann Irving Scholarship: 2006-2009: “Stress sensitivity in schizophrenia and its prodrome.”
• Dr. Joshua Gordon, Systems neurophysiology in psychiatric disease models. Gordon received an NIMH K08 Career Development award to study the neural correlates of anxiety in 5-HT1AR knockout mice. Lab Website | Faculty Profile

  Related awards:

  • R01: Mechamisms Underlying the Functional Connectivity Deficit in the 22Q11 Microdelet
  • R01: Exploring the Pathophysiology of Anxiety: The Role of the Hippocampus, Amygdala A
  • IMHRO Rising Star Award
  • Hope for Depression Research Foundation Grant