Roche Awards for Translational Neuroscience - Roche - Nature Medicine Translational Neuroscience Symposium 2009: Autism and Other Developmental Brain Disorders
2009 Roche Awards for Translational Neuroscience
Roche awards recognise groundbreaking work in neuroscience
Two leading scientists were honored with 2009 Roche Awards for Translational Neuroscience during the symposium in Buonas.
Alcino Silva, University of California, Los Angeles
The Senior Award went to Dr. Alcino Silva, Professor of the Departments of Neurobiology, Psychiatry and Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, for his outstanding work on molecular and cellular cognition. Dr. Silva's lab is focused on deriving explanations of cognitive processes that integrate molecular, cellular and behavioural mechanisms and to find treatments for cognitive disorders. His team recently showed that is possible to reverse conditions associated with neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) and tuberous sclerosis, two of the most common genetic disorders that cause learning disabilities.
Christer Nordstedt, Roche Basel, Switzerland and Eric Morrow, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Eric Morrow, currently an instructor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and soon to join the faculty at Brown University Institute for Brain Science, received the Junior Award for his findings on the genetics of autism. His work, published in Science last year, traced a diverse range of genetic mutations in autism and supported the concept of defective regulation of gene expressions as the common mechanism of the disorder.
"Both winners have changed the way we think about key neurodevelopmental disorders," said Dr. Luca Santarelli, Global Head of CNS Clincal Research and Development at Roche. "Thanks to their superb work, we are closer to understanding the molecular mechanisms that contribute to the pathophysiology of these diseases. This enables us to translate preclinical findings into potential medicines for patients suffering from severe neurological conditions."
Luca Santarelli, Global Head of CNS Clinical Research and Exploratory Development at Roche
The awards recognise established (Senior) and emerging (Junior) investigators who have made a major contribution to the understanding of neurodevelopmental disorders. This year's winners were selected by the Scientific Organisers of the 2009 Roche-Nature Medicine Translational Neuroscience Symposium. Members include Dr. Thomas R. Insel, Director of the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institutes of Health, USA; and Dr. Gerald D. Fischbach, Scientific Director of the Simons Foundation, USA.
