Klerman & Freedman Prizes
The Annual Klerman and Freedman Prizes recognize exceptional clinical and basic research conducted by NARSAD Young Investigator Grantees. The NARSAD Young Investigator Grant program is the hallmark program of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, enabling aspiring young scientists with innovative ideas to garner pilot data and generate “proof of concept” for their work. These two prizes are awarded in New York City every July.
Klerman Prize for Exceptional Clinical Research
The Klerman Prize, established in 1994 by Myrna M. Weissman, Ph.D., in memory of her late husband, Gerald L. Klerman, M.D., honors exceptional clinical research by a Young Investigator Grantee.
2020 Klerman Prizewinner:

Ellen Lee, M.D.
University of California, San Diego
Honorable Mentions:
- Soonjo Hwang, M.D. - University of Nebraska Medical Center
- Hadar Ben-Yoav, Ph.D. - Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
Selection Committee
Chair:
- Robert M.A. Hirschfeld, M.D. - Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University
Members:
- Martin B. Keller, M.D. - Brown University
- Rachel G. Klein, Ph.D. - New York University
- Nina R. Schooler, Ph.D. - State University of New York Downstate Medical Center
- Karen Dineen Wagner, M.D., Ph.D. - University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
Freedman Prize for Exceptional Basic Research
The Freedman Prize honors the late Daniel X. Freedman, M.D., a pioneer in biological psychiatry and psychopharmacology and a founding member of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Scientific Council. It is awarded to a Young Investigator Grantee for exceptional basic studies.
2020 Freedman Prizewinner:

Cody Siciliano, Ph.D.
Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research | Vanderbilt School of Medicine
Honorable Mentions:
- Kevin Beier, Ph.D. - University of California, Irvine
- Lorna A. Farrelly, Ph.D. - Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Selection Committee
Chair:
- Ariel Y. Deutch, Ph.D. - Vanderbilt University
Members:
- Joseph T. Coyle, M.D. - McLean Hospital, Harvard University
- Peter W. Kalivas, Ph.D. - Medical University of South Carolina
- Husseini K. Manji, M.D., F.R.C.P.C. - Johnson & Johnson PRD, Visiting Professor, Duke University
- Eric J. Nestler, M.D., Ph.D. - Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Bryan L. Roth, M.D., Ph.D. - University of North Carolina School of Medicine