Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, with Visionary Support from WoodNext Foundation, Awards $1 Million for Breakthrough Mental Health Research
New York, March 16, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NEW YORK (March 16, 2026) — The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (BBRF) today announced it will award $1 million in Distinguished Investigator Grants to 10 senior scientists conducting innovative research in neurobiological and behavioral science.
The $100,000, one-year grants will support studies focused on critical mental health challenges, including depression, autism spectrum disorder, PTSD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, cocaine use disorder, and chronic cannabis use. The awards are funded by the WoodNext Foundation and mark the third year of a five-year, $5 million commitment to support BBRF’s Distinguished Investigator Grants program.
“Mental illnesses affect millions of individuals and families, yet much remains unknown about their underlying biology,” said Jeffrey Borenstein, M.D., President and CEO of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. “Our Distinguished Investigator Grants support bold research that could lead to breakthroughs in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. We are deeply grateful to the WoodNext Foundation for making these pioneering studies possible.”
“Advancing mental health requires bold, high-impact scientific research,” said Nancy Chan, Executive Director of the WoodNext Foundation, a fund of a donor-advised fund program. “We are honored to support BBRF’s Distinguished Investigator Grants and the researchers driving new discoveries.”
Recipients are professors at leading research institutions in the United States and internationally. They were selected by the BBRF Scientific Council, a volunteer body of 191 experts in brain and behavior research who review applications and recommend the most promising projects.
BBRF 2026 Distinguished Investigators
Ravi Allada, M.D., University of Michigan, suggests that understanding the biological connection between bipolar disorder, sleep, and circadian rhythms could transform how we diagnose, monitor, and treat this condition. His project seeks to connect risk genes for bipolar disorder to biological mechanisms and clinical outcomes. This could identify new biomarkers for diagnosing and monitoring the illness, such as blood-based tests of circadian rhythm strength. They may also point to new treatment strategies, including optimizing the timing of existing medications or more effective use of circadian-based therapies like light and melatonin.
Paola Arlotta, Ph.D., Harvard University, has used human brain organoids—stem-cell-derived cell-culture models of human brain tissue—to show that when mutated, multiple genes associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) risk share an early developmental pattern in which inhibitory neurons develop out of step with the excitatory neurons they wire with. She hypothesizes this type of early asynchronous development of inhibitory neurons leads to later abnormalities in the activity and function of brain circuits, and that this mechanism may be shared across many ASD risk genes. This project seeks to directly test this hypothesis by examining circuit activity in human brain organoids mutant for the ASD risk gene ARID1b.
Christopher W. Cowan, Ph.D., Medical University of South Carolina, is interested in single-gene causes of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) that account for a significant fraction of ASD cases. Mutations or deletions in these single genes are often associated with profound autism and a constellation of commonly co-occurring symptoms that constitute a syndrome. One such gene is MEF2C, which encodes a protein that regulates neurotypical brain development and function. Loss-of-function mutations or deletions in one copy of MEF2C cause a syndrome (MCHS) which is characterized by ASD, language deficits, seizures, intellectual disability, sleep disturbances, immune dysfunction, and motor and sensory system deficits. MEF2C genetic variation is also linked to risk for bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, and schizophrenia. This project seeks to advance an RNA-based therapeutic approach to treat MCHS.
Aline Desmedt, Ph.D., NeuroCenter Magendie U1215 (INSERM, France), has developed an animal model that reproduces in mice the two memory components of PTSD: traumatic hypermnesia—the intense, involuntary, and recurrent re-experiencing of traumatic memories, often presenting as flashbacks or intrusive thoughts; and contextual amnesia, i.e., remembering details or events but forgetting the surrounding circumstances. This distinguishes PTSD-like memory from normative fear memory. This project seeks to identify neural mechanisms underlying the switch to and from pathological (PTSD-like) to normative fear memories. In animal models, the team will investigate the fate and representation of the “memory engram” during the formation, prevention, and normalization of trauma representation. The aim is to determine the extent to which a memory trace is transformed when (re)contextualized traumatic memory is normalized, shedding light on neurobiological mechanisms that could inform development of new therapeutic and preventive strategies.
Karen D. Ersche, Ph.D., University of Cambridge, UK, seeks to identify underlying mechanisms that drive maladaptive behavior in cocaine use disorder (CUD). One such mechanism may involve endocrine disruption. Cocaine impacts both the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) and hypothalamic–pituitary–gonadal (HPG) axes, which regulate cortisol and testosterone, respectively, and influence cognition and emotion via various brain networks including the amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex. This project seeks to illuminate the behavioral relevance of hormonal imbalance in chronic cocaine users based on a cohort of 180 adults, investigating endocrine, behavioral, and neural markers of decision-making and emotion processing. It will explore, for example, how neuroendocrine dysfunction relates to risky and social decision-making in CUD. The hope is to uncover new targets for intervention, and ultimately to improve outcomes.
Stephen J. Glatt, Ph.D., The Research Foundation for the State University of New York, Upstate Medical University, is working to develop the ability to non-invasively profile the molecular dynamics of the living human brain. The premise is that measuring changes in the expression of individual genes in discrete brain regions during periods of risk, illness, and recovery from a brain disorder could reveal new causal pathways and targets for treatment. This project will establish, validate, and disseminate a new and improved computational algorithm called the Brain Gene Expression and Network Imputation Engine (BrainGENIE+), which allows the team to register gene-expression levels and patterns in 10 distinct brain regions using just a blood sample. The goal is to uncover molecular states that underpin brain health and disease in individuals actively suffering from neurodevelopmental, neuropsychiatric, or neurodegenerative disorders and establish an atlas of gene-expression features of the living brain in healthy individuals.
Alicia Izquierdo, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles, notes that our brains often discern patterns in randomness. Volatility refers to the speed of change in everyday events. “Volatility beliefs,” or expectations of change, have been linked to paranoia in schizophrenia, with the typical observed direction as a heightened expectation of change and enhanced switching behaviors in those experiencing paranoia. Adaptive behavior should take into account both moment-to-moment randomness, (“stochasticity”), as well as the speed of change (“volatility”). Dissociating these factors in the laboratory is computationally and neurobiologically challenging. In this project, she will use a novel behavioral paradigm and modern systems-neuroscience techniques to identify mechanisms underlying this dissociation in thalamo-frontocortical circuits. Testing how these circuits are involved in dissociating volatility from stochasticity, the team hopes to accelerate understanding of neural circuit modulation in psychosis.
Wei Jiang, M.D., Medical University of South Carolina, notes that while acute or infrequent cannabis use may reduce anxiety, chronic and frequent use is associated with heightened anxiety, depression, and suicidality. But causality remains uncertain and likely involves factors beyond direct effects of the drug. Emerging evidence highlights the role of peripheral influences, including the gut–brain and oral–brain axes, in regulating emotion. The team’s past work suggests chronic heavy cannabis use enriches oral Actinomyces microbes, which induce anxiety-like behavior, mitochondrial dysfunction, and impaired inhibitory neurotransmission. This study investigates the mechanisms by which chronic cannabis use drives anxiety through pathogenic oral microbiota and metabolites, and will explore targeted therapeutic approaches.
Loren L. Looger, Ph.D., University of California, San Diego, will explore a novel pharmacological mechanism that may be exploited to ameliorate depression: the upregulation of serotonin synthesis inside of cells. SSRI medicines inhibit the activity of serotonin transporters, thereby lengthening the amount of time over which extracellularly transmitted serotonin molecules can act at receptors outside of the cell. This mechanism ignores the intracellular aspects of serotonin function. Dr. Looger proposes that upregulation of serotonin synthesis would address both pathways: the extracellular pathways addressed by SSRIs and also intracellular pathways. Recent studies of psychedelics and related drugs like MDMA suggest these drugs may help alleviate depression at least in part via an upregulation of serotonin synthesis and transport to critical brain regions. The team will use a high-throughput drug screen to identify modulators of serotonin synthesis. Compounds discovered from this screen may illuminate molecular pathways involved in serotonin synthesis and trafficking and may serve as lead molecules for the development of new medicines.
Jamie L. Maguire, Ph.D., Tufts University. The goal is to further the development of a novel, evidence-based treatment with transdiagnostic potential for psychiatry. The high incidence of treatment resistance in depression (over 30%), Dr. Maguire suggests, is likely due to the fact that the majority of existing medications fall into similar drug classes and do not treat underlying pathophysiological mechanisms. In search of a new, evidence-based target for therapeutic development, this project focuses on impaired neurosteroid synthesis, implicated in numerous psychiatric illnesses. The team has developed a potential treatment which enhances the synthesis of these endogenous compounds with well-established anxiolytic and antidepressant effects. They have already identified small molecules and now will take next steps to develop a novel treatment with transdiagnostic potential for psychiatric illnesses.
About Brain & Behavior Research Foundation
The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation awards research grants to develop improved treatments, cures, and methods of prevention for mental illness. These illnesses include addiction, ADHD, anxiety, autism, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, depression, eating disorders, OCD, PTSD, and schizophrenia, as well as research on suicide prevention. Since 1987, the Foundation has awarded more than $476 million to fund more than 5,700 leading scientists around the world. 100% of every dollar donated for research is invested in research. BBRF operating expenses are covered by separate foundation grants. BBRF is the producer of the Emmy®-nominated public television series Healthy Minds with Dr. Jeffrey Borenstein, which aims to remove the stigma of mental illness and demonstrate that with help, there is hope.
About WoodNext Foundation
The WoodNext Foundation manages the philanthropy of tech innovator and Roku CEO/founder, Anthony Wood, and his wife Susan. Their philanthropic efforts are guided by their overall mission to advance human progress and remove obstacles to a fulfilling life. The WoodNext Foundation makes grants and investments in a variety of areas, including scientific and biomedical research, mental health, homelessness, education, nature conservation, disaster recovery, and economic opportunity, with a focus on addressing root causes.
For more information about the WoodNext Foundation, please visit:
Instagram: @WoodNext
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/woodnext/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/woodnext/
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Myrna Manners Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (718) 986-7255 mmanners@mannerspr.com
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