Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Awards Nearly $4 Million in NARSAD Grants for Cutting-Edge Research on Mental Illness

GREAT NECK, N.Y.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (formerly NARSAD, the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression) has announced approximately $4 million in new research grants. Since 1987, the Foundation has invested close to $300 million in research to identify the causes, improve treatments and develop prevention strategies for mental illness. From about 500 applicants, forty research scientists were selected to receive up to $100,000 over two years in NARSAD Independent Investigator Grants. These mid-career scientists from 10 countries and 34 institutions will pursue innovative research related to depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, autism, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and anxiety disorders like obsessive-compulsive and post-traumatic stress disorders.

“The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation salutes the impressive 2013 NARSAD Independent Investigator Grantees and extends gratitude to our donors and Scientific Council for their support”

NARSAD Grant selections are made by the Foundation’s all-volunteer Scientific Council, a group of 138 brain and behavior research leaders. Scientific Council Member and Chair, Independent Investigator Grant Selection Committee, Robert M. Post, M.D., George Washington University, said: “The range of project proposals this year was exceptional in its variety of new approaches to understand and treat mental illness. Tackling the illnesses of the brain remains science’s most daunting challenge and requires these cutting-edge approaches that the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation has been supporting for 25 years with its NARSAD Grants. Each year we build upon the growing body of knowledge about the brain and its functioning and come closer to finding cures.”

“The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation salutes the impressive 2013 NARSAD Independent Investigator Grantees and extends gratitude to our donors and Scientific Council for their support,” says Jeffrey Borenstein, M.D., Foundation President & CEO. “All of our grants are funded through private contributions by people passionate about and committed to improving the lives of those with mental illness. As researchers increasingly face funding challenges, Foundation support is more important than ever.”

NARSAD Grants support research across disciplines in these categories:
Diagnostic Tools / Early Intervention—to recognize early signs of mental illness and treat it as early as possible
New Technologies—to advance or create new ways of studying and understanding the brain
Next Generation Therapies—to reduce symptoms and retrain the brain.
Basic Research—to understand what happens in the brain to cause mental illness

Read about Grantees and projects at http://bbrfoundation.org/II-2013-list.