News Release

SOBP recognizes Simons Foundation with 2017 Humanitarian Award

Grant and Award Announcement

Parthenon Management Group

The Society of Biological Psychiatry is pleased to honor the Simons Foundation with the 2017 Humanitarian Award. The prestigious award recognizes the crucial contributions of those whose efforts have had a very visible and public impact on both the field of biological psychiatry and the people suffering from mental illnesses. Dr. Kerry Ressler, President of the Society will present the award on May 19, 2017 at the 72nd Annual Meeting in San Diego, California.

The Simons Foundation received the award for its leadership in decreasing stigma, advancing awareness, and contributing materially to the advancement of research in biological psychiatry. An Honorific Committee composed of the current and past five Society presidents selected the Simons Foundation from a pool of nominees. The prestigious award comes with a $5,000 cash prize.

Founded in 1994 by Drs. James and Marilyn Simons, the Simons Foundation is a private organization in New York that seeks to advance basic research on fundamental questions of biology through its Life Sciences division and by supporting early career scientists. In 2003 the foundation launched the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI), which has supported hundreds of investigators around the globe with the goal to improve the understanding, diagnosis, and treatment of autism spectrum disorders. The Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain, launched in 2014, is building a multi-disciplinary community of scientists to understand internal brain processes that give rise to cognition. The foundation has also made significant contributions to the field and to society through resources and outreach, such as public lectures, to further increase the impact of discoveries in the field.

A full list of past Humanitarian Award winners can be found here.

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About the Society of Biological Psychiatry:

The Society of Biological Psychiatry was founded in l945 to encourage the study of the biological causes of and treatments for psychiatric disorders. Its continuing purpose is to promote excellence in scientific research and education in fields that investigate the nature, causes, mechanisms, and treatments of disorders of thought, emotion, or behavior.

To achieve its purpose, the Society creates venues for the exchange of scientific information that will foster the advancement of psychiatric neuroscience and therapeutics. To this end, the Society sponsors an annual meeting, maintains web-based resources, grants awards to distinguished clinical and basic researchers, and publishes the journal, Biological Psychiatry. The term "biological psychiatry" emphasizes the biological nature of behavior and its disorders and implies the use of the medical model; but in so doing, it encompasses other major elements of modern psychiatric medicine, including its humanitarian mission, psychological foundation, and socio-cultural orientation.

The vision of the Society of Biological Psychiatry is to be the leading professional organization in the integration, advancement, and promulgation of science relevant to psychiatric disorders, with the ultimate goal of reducing or preventing the suffering of those with these disorders. For more information, visit http://www.sobp.org contact us at sobp@sobp.org or 904-953-2842.


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