Category: News

In 2025, the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation awarded Distinguished Investigator Grants valued at $1 million to 10 senior-level scientists who are conducting groundbreaking research in neurobiological and behavioral science. Recipients of the $100,000, one-year grants are exploring critical areas of mental health, including opioid use disorder, depression in pregnant women, schizophrenia,...

With a designation from the FDA, a device created and patented by Flavio Frohlich, PhD, professor of psychiatry at the UNC School of Medicine and member of the UNC Neuroscience Center, is one step closer to being available for patients. Original full article can be found here.

A new genetic study, led by Hyejung Won, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Genetics and the UNC Neuroscience Center, and Patrick Sullivan, MD, FRANZCP, the Yeargen Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Genetics, has successfully delineated the functional consequences of genetic variants into two groups. Their findings, which were published in Cell, suggest that pleiotropic variants may...

Kang et al. present HCAD, a peripherally restricted DREADD based on HCA2, with a chemical actuator that avoids crossing the blood-brain barrier and selectively reduces pain in mice. This system will enable the study of peripheral physiology without affecting the central nervous system. Publication found here.

Harvard Neuroscientist David D. Ginty, PhD, will receive the Perl-UNC Neuroscience Prize for his pivotal discoveries on the sensation of touch and how our body communicates with the brain. Original full article can be found here.

Sarah Cohen and her collaborators received a 2024 Allen Distinguished Investigator Award to develop a game-changing microscopy tool for visualizing multiple organelles in live cells. Original full article can be found here.

Aysenil Belger, PhD, professor of psychiatry, and Danielle Roubinov, PhD, director of the Child and Adolescent Anxiety and Mood Disorders Program, will lead an innovative study of the predictors of anhedonia — a common symptom of mental health conditions — in young people. Original full article can be found here.

In a UNC-Chapel Hill neuroscience lab, researchers recently monitored a mouse wearing a miniature, helmet-like device that streamed real-time data to a nearby computer. As data points on heart rate, pupil size and breathing patterns scrolled across the screen, capturing the intricate interplay between animal physiology and behavior, they realized...

The lab of Graham Diering, PhD, assistant professor of cell biology and physiology at the UNC School of Medicine, shows how sleep loss during early life impacts key aspects of brain development and how it can increase one’s risk for developing autism spectrum disorder. Original full article can be found...

As Director of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Neuroscience Microscopy Core, Michelle Itano develops state-of-the-art imaging whilst training scientists far and wide. Here’s how she became a core facility leader that is forging collaborations between researchers and data scientists to drive bioscience forward. Original article continued here.