Dr Indira David is (again!) laureate of the NARSAD Young investigator award.

Indira DAVID, Research scientist in our team is one of the winners of the prestigious « 2022 National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression Young Investigator award » given by the American « Brain & Behavior Research Foundation ».

The NARSAD Young Investigator award is one of the highest honors in the field of mental health research. It provides funding for the recipient’s research for two years. Each grant application is reviewed by the Scientific Advisory Board which selects the most promising brain research ideas with the greatest potential.

The Scientific Advisory Board is composed of 183 active, world-renowned scientists including a Nobel Prize winner, a former director of the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) as well as the current Director, 4 National Medal of Science recipients, 7 members of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, 42 chairs of psychiatric departments and 51 members of the National Academy of Medicine.

Indira was selected by the Scientific Advisory Board from over a thousand applications. This award is all the more remarkable since it is Indira’s second time receiving this distinction.

During the two years of funding, Indira will focus on dissecting the involvement of the neural circuitry involved in the rapid anxiolytic effects induced following the activation of the serotonin 5-HT4 receptor (5-HT4R). To do so, she will combine the pharmacological approach with innovative approaches such as optogenetics and fiber optic photometry in mice whose 5-HT4R expression will have been specifically inactivated in given brain regions.

This work will provide new information on the underlying mechanisms involved in rapid anxiolytic activity and could lead to new treatments for anxiety disorders, including the use of 5-HT4 receptor agonists, which are as effective as the reference anxiolytics, benzodiazepines, but without their main side effects (dependence, anterograde amnesia, etc….).

CONGRATS INDIRA!!!!