Colvin Prize

Congratulations to Mary Phillips, MD, MD (CANTAB) on her selection for the prestigious Colvin Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Mood Disorders Research by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.

Dr. Phillips is an internationally renowned scientist in the field of mood disorders research and directs the Clinical and Translational Affective Neuroscience Program at the University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry.  Her work focuses on using multimodal neuroimaging techniques to elucidate functional and structural abnormalities in emotion processing, reward processing and emotional regulation circuitries that are associated with specific psychiatric disorders and symptom dimensions, in individuals with mood and anxiety disorders. Dr. Phillips is also recognized as a leader in the field for her research to identify the neurodevelopmental trajectories in these circuitries that are associated with the development of such disorders in youth, and the extent to which these neuroimaging techniques can identify biomarkers reflecting underlying pathophysiologic processes that denote future risk for these disorders in as yet unaffected youth.  She is now using neural circuitry identified in those studies as targets for novel neurostimulation interventions for individuals at risk for and diagnosed with bipolar disorder. 

The Foundation will formally present Dr. Phillips with the prize at its annual international awards dinner in New York City in October 2017. As part of the prize, Dr. Phillips will also receive a cash award to support her ongoing research.