Robert A. Sweet, MD, endowed professor of psychiatry, has been awarded a Distinguished Investigator Grant from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation for his research on mechanisms that lead to the delusions and hallucinations seen both in schizophrenia and in about half of all patients with Alzheimer's disease. Sweet intends to explore the possible relationship between the loss of tiny features called spines on neural dendrites, characteristic of schizophrenia, and the buildup of tau proteins in people with Alzheimer's disease who suffer from psychosis.

Sweet was selected for the one-year, $100,000 award by the Foundation's Scientific Council, which is composed of 176 leading experts across disciplines in brain and behavior research. The council includes two Nobel laureates; two former directors of the National Institute of Mental Health, as well as the current director; four recipients of the National Medal of Science; 13 members of the National Academy of Sciences, 26 chairs of psychiatric departments, and 52 members of the National Academy of Medicine.

"By funding creative research that explores new ways to prevent, diagnose and treat psychiatric disorders, the Distinguished Investigator Grants support and encourage established scientists to advance our understanding about mental illness, and brain and behavior disorders," says Foundation President and CEO Jeffrey Borenstein, MD. "These grants serve as seed capital for new approaches that might otherwise go unfunded."