Mount Sinai Scientist Recognized for Outstanding Basic Research Contributions to Neuropsychopharmacology
Scott Russo, PhD, Professor of Neuroscience and Director of the Center for Affective Neuroscience within the Nash Family Department of Neuroscience and The Friedman Brain Institute at Mount Sinai, has been awarded the 2019 Daniel H. Efron Research Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP). The award is given in recognition of outstanding basic research contributions to neuropsychopharmacology, the study of the neural mechanisms by which drugs affect behavior. Dr. Russo was presented the award at the 58th Annual Meeting of the ACNP in Orlando, Florida.
Dr. Russo is recognized internationally for his contributions to the understanding of neural and immunological mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety. His translational studies of depression-like behaviors in rodent models have identified novel disease mechanisms in depressed humans. The Russo Lab at Mount Sinai uses a broad array of tools to gain insight into how the brain and body adapt to stress and how a failure in adaptation may result in pathological behaviors associated with depression and anxiety.
Over the past decade, Dr. Russo has made outstanding contributions to psychopharmacology and the molecular understanding of neuropsychiatric disease. He has received numerous honors and awards, which include the Johnson & Johnson/IMHRO Rising Star in Translational Research and being named a Kavil National Academy of Science Frontiers Fellow.
Dr. Russo is the latest in a long line of Mount Sinai winners of ACNP’s prestigious Efron Award, including:
- Kenneth L. Davis, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System
- Dennis S. Charney, MD, Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and President for Academic Affairs of the Mount Sinai Health System
- Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs and Director of The Friedman Brain Institute
- Joseph D. Buxbaum, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry, Genetics and Genomic Sciences, and Neuroscience, and Director of The Seaver Autism Center for Research and Treatment
- Paul J. Kenny, PhD, Ward-Coleman Professor and Chair of the Nash Family Department of Neuroscience
“This is testimony to the dominant role Mount Sinai has played in psychiatric neuroscience over a generation,” said Dr. Nestler. “Dr. Russo’s highly innovative and transformative research program is revealing fundamentally novel mechanisms of stress, depression, and resilience, and promises new treatments for several stress-related illnesses.”
About the Mount Sinai Health System
Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with 48,000 employees working across eight hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 600 research and clinical labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time—discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.
Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 9,000 primary and specialty care physicians and 11 free-standing joint-venture centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida. Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweek’s® “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals, Best in State Hospitals, World Best Hospitals and Best Specialty Hospitals” and by U.S. News & World Report's® “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report® “Best Hospitals” Honor Roll for 2024-2025.
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