McLean Leaders Draw Accolades

April 21, 2014

Joseph Coyle Earns the Julius Axelrod Prize

McLean Hospital Chief Scientific Officer Joseph Coyle, MD, was recognized by the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) with the Julius Axelrod Prize during its annual conference in November 2013. The Julius Axelrod Prize recognizes exceptional achievements in neuropharmacology and in mentoring young scientists.

“Dr. Coyle is an outstanding neuroscientist and psychiatrist who has devoted his career to probing the underlying causes of psychiatric disorders and proposing innovative therapeutic interventions,” said Larry Swanson, PhD, president of SfN. “At the same time, he has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to training researchers and clinicians alike.”

Coyle’s research has contributed greatly to the understanding of the neuronal changes associated with psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders and suggested novel therapies to treat them. Coyle demonstrated that changes in a particular group of cells in the basal forebrain are associated with Alzheimer’s disease, opening up a new avenue of treatment. His current research focuses on the negative symptoms and cognitive deficits associated with schizophrenia.

Joseph Coyle, MD, and Shelly F. Greenfield, MD, MPH
Joseph Coyle, MD, and Shelly F. Greenfield, MD, MPH

Greenfield Honored with Smithers Award

Chief Academic Officer Shelly F. Greenfield, MD, MPH, recently received the R. Brinkley Smithers Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Society of Addiction Medicine. Established in 1995, the Smithers Award recognizes individuals who have made highly commendable contributions in the advancement of scientific understanding of the prevention and treatment of alcoholism.

“This award is well-deserved for Dr. Greenfield, who is nationally recognized for her research on substance use disorders, particularly in the areas of women’s treatment and health services. Her work has not only influenced addiction treatment and research here at McLean but also has had widespread reach around the country,” said Roger Weiss, MD, chief of the Division of Alcohol, Drugs, and Addiction at McLean.

Greenfield is the principal investigator and co-investigator on multiple federally funded research projects focusing on treatment for substance use disorders, gender differences in substance disorders and health services for substance disorders. In addition, she is the chair of the National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trial Network’s Gender Special Interest Group, editor-in-chief of the Harvard Review of Psychiatry and vice president of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry.

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