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 Press Release 
For immediate release Basic Psychiatric Research Evelyn Lambe, University of Toronto, Selected for Studies on Cognitive Symptoms of Schizophrenia Honorable Mentions Go to M. Margaret Behrens, University of California, San Diego, and Akira Sawa, Johns Hopkins University
The Freedman Award honors outstanding basic psychiatric research initiated by early-career scientists who have received NARSAD grants. Dr. Lambe, a 2004 NARSAD Young Investigator grant recipient, was selected for studies of the neurobiological basis for the cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia, the symptoms that affect thinking and attention. Specifically, she is investigating how the neural circuitry of attention in the brain is modulated by nicotine and by other drugs and neurotransmitters. Dr. Lambe was chosen for recognition by NARSAD’s Scientific Council, a volunteer body of 103 eminent neuroscientists, including two Nobel laureates, which also named two other NARSAD grantees for honorable mention. They are: M. Margaret Behrens, Ph.D., associate project scientist in the geriatrics division of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Diego, and a 2004 NARSAD Young Investigator who is studying the role of a particular group of inhibitory nerve cells in the cognitive derangements seen in aging and in some disease processes, including schizophrenia. Akira Sawa, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor and director of the Program in Molecular Psychiatry in the departments of psychiatry and neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University, where he also runs a schizophrenia research program funded by a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Conti Center grant. A 2002 and 2004 NARSAD Young Investigator, Dr. Sawa has been working to create a mouse model in which to study the role of the DISC1 (Disrupted-In-Schizophrenia) gene, in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia. In 2007, NARSAD presented him its Staglin Award, a grant schizophrenia research. The three scientists were honored at a celebration in New York on July 25th attended by members of NARSAD’s board of directors, Scientific Council and donors. NARSAD established the Freedman Award in 1998 in memory of Daniel X. Freedman, M.D., a pioneer in biological psychiatry. About NARSAD NARSAD began giving grants in 1987 as the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression. Since then, the charity has awarded 3,474 grants totaling $234 million to researchers who have helped to advance understanding of normal and abnormal brain function and the physical and psychosocial consequences of mental illness. Their efforts have led to the development of new drugs and rehabilitative approaches for the treatment of a wide range of brain and behavioral disorders, including schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders and childhood mental disorders, among other conditions. NARSAD annually awards three classes of grants. Its Young Investigator Award helps promising young scientists to launch pilot studies that will facilitate their ability to apply for larger grants. The Independent Investigator Award sustains the independent research programs of outstanding mid-career scientists. NARSAD’s Distinguished Investigator Award supports breakthrough research by established leaders at the forefront of neuropsychiatric research. In addition, NARSAD’s Staglin Award provides a three-year grant for early-career investigators conducting leading-edge research on the causes and treatment of schizophrenia. For additional information about NARSAD and the research and public education programs it supports, visit www.narsad.org. |
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