Archives: Successes

F. Xavier Castellanos, M.D.

Dr. Castellanos is elucidating the neuroscience of ADHD and its relationship to substance abuse through genetic studies and sophisticated brain imaging.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a psychiatric condition that, until recently, has defied scientific understanding. Scientific research of a disease aims to identify causes or connect symptoms to underlying physiology. Such methods are traditionally less effective for understand...

Young Shin Kim, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., and Bennett L. Leventhal, M.D.

Autism Spectrum Disorders Update: New Study Shows Prevalence Much Greater Than Suspected

A Brain Research Foundation funded research project indicated the prevalence for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) to be nearly three times previous estimates. This ground breaking study conducted in Korea over five years indicated a prevalence estimate for ASD to be 2.64% of the population, compar...

Dr. Grutzendler

Seed Grants: Growing Discovery

Occlusion of tiny blood vessels in various organs is likely to occur frequently throughout life. A blockage in the blood vessel prevents normal blood flow and oxygen from reaching the tissues in that location. The cumulative effect of these occlusions may lead to organ damage. In the brain, this ...

Jeremy Amiel Rosenkranz, Ph.D.

Chronic stress causes a dysregulation of emotional behaviors, and is a potent triggering factor in depression and other psychiatric illnesses.

Our bodies can handle most common stressors by adapting. However, chronic stress can wear them down and cause us to become ill, both physically and mentally. If one is not able to cope with chronic stress well, stressful life situations can increase the risk of serious health problems, including ...

Chunyu Liu, Ph.D.

According to the World Health Organization, as many as 450 million people worldwide suffer from a mental or behavioral disorder. Chunyu Liu, Ph.D., Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago, is trying to make a difference in the lives of so many by determining the link between genetic factors, environmental factors and neuropsychiatric diseases. Dr. Liu was awarded a BRF Seed Grant in 2008. To date, the data from this grant has generated nine research articles in journals such as American Journal of Human Genetics, Behavior Genetics and Molecular Psychiatry.

We were taught that changes in genes take place over many generations and through years of natural selection. Would you be surprised to learn that our environment and the choices we make in life today can influence our genetic code and have a profound effect on our health and the health of our ch...

Benjamin B. Lahey, Ph.D.

In 1984, Benjamin B. Lahey, Ph.D., Health Studies at the University of Chicago, published a paper in which he hypothesized that mothers who abuse their children may have a lower threshold for child misbehavior and may react more punitively to it.

Harsh, abusive maternal parenting in childhood is a robust risk factor for many mental disorders and health problems including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and obesity. Studies of nonhuman mammals reveal that atypical early mothering causes lasting changes in the expression of genes that are...

Jill A. Morris, Ph.D.

Schizophrenia is an inherited disorder, in that, if a family member is affected by schizophrenia, the other members have an increased risk of developing the disease as well.

Schizophrenia is a debilitating developmental illness characterized by multiple symptoms including hallucinations, delusions and social withdrawal. Although drugs are available to treat some of the symptoms of schizophrenia, their profound side effects make non-compliance a major issue and often ...

David J. Freedman, Ph.D.

Our Seed Grants Are The First Step

Dr. Freedman’s research will help us understand the mechanisms that underlie learning, memory and recognition.

Dean M. Hartley, Ph.D.

Identifying “silent seizures” in Alzheimer’s patients and seeking novel ways to use anti-seizure medications.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is an irreversible, progressive brain disorder. AD destroys neurons, causing memory loss, confusion and impaired judgment. It is characterized by the formation of two pathological features, plaques and tangles. Plaques are made from a fragment of the protein called ...

Dane M. Chetkovich, M.D., Ph.D.

Dane M. Chetkovich, M.D., Ph.D., Neurology at Northwestern University, is working on a gene therapy treatment for epilepsy that may one day help patients who are otherwise resistant to medical and surgical therapy.

Epilepsy is a brain disorder of abnormally increased brain excitability that leads to seizures. A person is considered to have epilepsy when he or she has two or more unprovoked seizures. Advances in therapeutics have improved the lives of patients with epilepsy, yet seizures refractory to medica...

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