NARSAD Awards Almost $4 Million for Psychiatric Research in Latest Round of Grants

National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression
Tuesday, 14 August 2001

40 Investigators to Receive Funding

(Great Neck, New York. August 14, 2001). The National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) has chosen the recipients of its prestigious Independent Investigator grants for the year 2001. The goal of NARSAD's Independent Investigator Program, which was initiated in 1995, is to provide support for scientists at the critical juncture between initiating independent research and achieving sustained funding.

This year, NARSAD will award Independent Investigator grants totaling $3.9 million to 40 scientists. Each researcher will receive approximately $50,000 annually over a two-year period. The funding will support studies on depression, schizophrenia, panic disorder, bipolar illness and other brain disorders in major universities and research centers worldwide. NARSAD believes grant recipients will play key roles in discovering the causes, new treatments and eventual cures for mental illness.

"Independent Investigator grants provide funding for the most exciting brain research taking place today -- studies utilizing the most advanced technologies in genetics, molecular biology and brain imaging," said Constance Lieber, NARSAD president. "In the past, we have witnessed outstanding achievements of NARSAD-funded scientists, including those who have gone on to win the Nobel Prize. I am confident that the research we are supporting today will lead to better treatments and perhaps, one day, a cure for the severe mental illnesses."

About NARSAD and Research Funding

NARSAD is the largest donor-supported organization funding psychiatric research worldwide. Since 1987, NARSAD has awarded $115.9 million in grants to 1,369 scientists at 175 leading universities and research centers in the United States and abroad.

Grantees are chosen by NARSAD's Scientific Review Council, which is composed of 70 prominent scientists and academic leaders in all phases of neurobiological and psychiatric research. This distinguished group of volunteer reviewers includes Nobel Prize recipients Eric Kandel, M.D., and Paul Greengard, Ph.D. The Scientific Council screens hundreds of applications each year to find the most promising research proposals.

In addition to its Independent Investigator awards, NARSAD provides important early career support for scientists with its Young Investigator grants, and continuing support for established researchers with its Distinguished Investigator awards.

For more information, or to contact National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, see their website at: www.narsad.org