Richard Huganir Wins 2014 Goldman-Rakic Prize
Richard Huganir, Ph.D., has received the Goldman-Rakic Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Cognitive Neuroscience from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. The $40,000 prize is named for pioneering neurobiologist Patricia Goldman-Rakic.
The award recognizes significant contributions made at the cellular, physiological or behavioral levels that may lend new insight into psychiatric and neurological disease. As a recipient, Huganir will be invited to give an honorary lecture at Yale University.
The award will be presented at the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Awards Dinner in October in New York City.
Huganir is director of the Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a professor of neuroscience, biological chemistry, and pharmacology and molecular sciences. His research on the molecules involved in strengthening connections between nerve cells in the brain has helped elucidate the mechanisms underlying learning and memory. It has ramifications for disorders that inhibit learning, including Alzheimer’s and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as cognitive disorders, such as schizophrenia and autism.
View a video of Dr. Huganir describing his research and the Goldman-Rakic prize.