This year, we once again honored the legacies of  Gerald L. Klerman, M.D. and Daniel X. Freedman, M.D., by recognizing outstanding work of those we have supported with NARSAD Young Investigator Grants. At our dinner in NYC on Friday evening, July 29, six promising young scientists received Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Klerman and Freedman Prizes.

As noted by the Master of Ceremonies, Herbert Pardes, M.D., President of our Scientific Council – these annual prizes have proven to be predictive of further important contribution to the mental health field from these young scientists. In this case, several of the Young Investigators are working to understand how mental illness develops in childhood and how it may eventually be prevented.

The first prize awarded was the Klerman prize, with one prize winner and two honorable mentions. The Klerman Prize honors exceptional clinical research by a Young Investigator and was established in 1994 by Myrna Weissman, Ph.D., in memory of her late husband, Gerald L. Klerman, M.D. The prize winner is Chadi Calarge, M.D. of the University of Iowa. The two honorable mention prize winners are Brian D’Onofrio, Ph.D. of Indiana University-Bloomington and Jennifer S. Silk, Ph.D. of the University of Pittsburgh.

Listen to their inspiring acceptance speeches:

Calarge Speech

D’Onofrio and Silk Speeches

To learn more about the Klerman Prize or Drs. Calarge, D’Onofrio, or Silk, please read the Klerman and Freedman Prizes Brochure.