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.
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.
2023 Klerman Prizewinner:

Danella Hafeman, M.D., Ph.D.
University of Pittsburgh
Honorable Mentions:
- Linden Parkes, Ph.D. - Rutgers University & University of Pennsylvania
Selection Committee
Chair:
- Karen Dineen Wagner, M.D., Ph.D. - University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
Members:
- Martin B. Keller, M.D. - Brown University
- Nina R. Schooler, Ph.D. - State University of New York Downstate Medical Center
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.
2023 Freedman Prizewinner:

Ritchie Chen, Ph.D.
University of California, San Francisco
Honorable Mentions:
- Madeline Andrews, Ph.D. - Arizona State University
- Neir Eshel, M.D., Ph.D. - Stanford University
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