BBRF’s annual Klerman & Freedman Prizes recognize exceptional clinical and basic research in mental illness conducted by BBRF Young Investigator grantees. The 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 recognize innovative thinking and remarkable talent across the field of neuropsychiatry. The prizewinners are selected by committees of the Foundation’s distinguished Scientific Council.
On July 29, 2022 at the Scientific Council Dinner BBRF celebrated the extraordinary life of Stephen A. Lieber (8/30/1925–3/31/2020), our Board Chairman Emeritus, who was a global champion of psychiatric research.
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.
2022 Klerman Prizewinner:

Shan Siddiqi, M.D.
Brigham & Women's Hospital
Harvard Medical School
HEAR FROM DR. SIDDIQI
Honorable Mentions:
- Rachel Emma Lean, Ph.D. - Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis
HEAR FROM DR. LEAN - Sunny Xiaojing Tang, M.D. - Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, Institute of Behavioral Science
Zucker School of Medicine, Hofstra/Northwell Health
HEAR FROM DR. TANG
Selection Committee
Chair:
- Robert M.A. Hirschfeld, M.D. - Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University
Members:
- Martin B. Keller, M.D. - Brown 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.
2022 Freedman Prizewinner:

Antonio Fernandez-Ruiz, Ph.D.
Cornell University
HEAR FROM DR. FERNANDO-RUIZ
Honorable Mentions:
- Chandramouli Chandrasekaran, Ph.D. - Boston University School of Medicine
HEAR FROM DR. CHANDRASEKARAN - Moshen Jamali, Ph.D. - Massachusetts General Hospital
Harvard Medical School
HEAR FROM DR. JAMALI
Selection Committee
Chair:
- Ariel Y. Deutch, Ph.D. - Vanderbilt University
Members:
- Joseph T. Coyle, M.D. - McLean Hospital, Harvard University
- Cecilia Flores, Ph.D. - McGill University
- Peter W. Kalivas, Ph.D. - Medical University of South Carolina
- Eric J. Nestler, M.D., Ph.D. - Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- Marina Picciotto, Ph.D. - Yale University