Two Pitt researchers have received 2016 NARSAD Independent Investigator Grants for separate studies that involve sleep disturbances in subjects who are mentally ill. NARSAD is the acronym for the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression.

Peter L. Franzen, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry, will investigate the potential of dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) for reducing suicides among adolescents with bipolar disorder. Franzen’s team will focus on DBT’s therapeutic value in reducing sleep disturbances, which are both a risk factor for, and a symptom of, bipolar disorder. The research group will compare the effects of DBT, which targets emotion regulation processes, by looking at brain imaging and measures of sleep quality in affected and unaffected teens.

Colleen Ann McClung, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry, aims to help improve treatment for bipolar disorder, major depression, and schizophrenia by examining disruptions to sleep patterns, which can destabilize mood. McClung’s team will study coordinated patterns of brain activity tied to the stages of consciousness and sleep—in particular, how these stages look irregular in major depression, bipolar, and schizophrenia. The researchers will also test how strongly these disruptions are linked to outcomes such as suicide and psychosis. The study is expected to shed light on the underlying pathology of sleep irregularities in psychiatric disorders and lay the groundwork for new treatments.

Franzen and McClung are among 40 mid-career scientists from 30 institutions in 16 countries who received the awards this year. The NARSAD grants are intended to help fund basic research about what happens in the brain to cause mental illness; new technologies to advance or create new ways of studying and understanding the brain; and next-generation therapies that reduce symptoms of mental illness and ultimately cure and prevent brain and behavior disorders. The grants provide $50,000 per year for up to two years to support investigators during the critical period between the initiation of research and the receipt of sustained funding.Every year, applications are reviewed by members of the Scientific Council of the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation. The council is composed of 150  experts in brain and behavior research.

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