McLean’s Amy C. Janes, PhD, Receives Presidential Honor for Young Scientists

McLean Hospital’s Amy C. Janes, PhD, was named as a 2019 recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

The PECASE is the highest honor given by the U.S. government to scientists and engineers who are starting their independent research careers and show exceptional promise for leadership in science and technology.

Founded in 1996, it acknowledges the contributions scientists and engineers have made to the advancement of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and to community service. These contributions may be shown through scientific leadership, public education, and/or community outreach.

“I am incredibly honored to have received the PECASE award,” said Janes, who is also an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. “I am also thankful for the support of numerous mentors, mentees, colleagues, and National Institutes of Health (NIH) staff who helped make this possible.”

Janes leads the Functional Integration of Addiction Research Laboratory at the McLean Imaging Center. Her current NIH-funded research uses clinical neuroimaging to show how individual differences in brain function influence drug use and relapse. Her long-term goal is to help inform the development of personalized treatments for substance misuse that consider differences in brain function and other factors, such as coexisting psychiatric disorders.

The PECASE funding extends Janes’ current grant for an extra year. She plans to use this funding to continue her work on determining the neurobiological risk factors for nicotine dependence.

Janes is also immersed in education. She is the associate director of a post-doctoral training program in drug misuse and brain imaging funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. She also holds a joint appointment with Suffolk University to provide research training to pre-doctoral candidates.

“Amy is so deserving of this award,” said Scott E. Lukas, PhD, director of the McLean Imaging Center. “Ever since she arrived at McLean, she has studied the variables that define individual differences in tobacco smokers. Her discoveries have had a major impact on the field, and this is one of many recognitions of her dedication and hard work.”