PITT PROFESSOR WINS SCHIZOPHRENIA RESEARCH AWARD

PITTSBURGH, Dec. 1 -- Anthony A. Grace, a professor of neuroscience and psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, received the Paul Janssen Schizophrenia Research Award from the International Congress on Neuropsychopharmacology this past summer in Belgium. The award was presented by Janssen, of Janssen Pharmaceuticals. At the presentation ceremony, Grace was personally congratulated by the Queen of Belgium.

Grace's research explores the effects of antipsychotic drugs on the body's dopamine systems and the prefrontal cortex of the brain. Excess dopamine is known to be a feature of schizophrenia.

Edward Stricker, chairman of Pitt's Department of Neuroscience, said that, as one of Pitt's most prominent researchers, Grace richly deserved the award.

"Tony Grace has made many substantial contributions to the scientific literature on brain function generally and on the basis of schizophrenia in particular," said Stricker. "This is a very prestigious award given for distinguished research on the biological basis of schizophrenia."

Stricker's point about Grace's contributions to scientific literature is supported by the Institute for Scientific Information, which recently noted that one of Grace's papers on the dopamine system was one of the 10 most frequently cited articles on schizophrenia in the 1990s.

Grace, a resident of Penn Hills, PA, has been a faculty member at Pitt since 1985. He earned his Ph.D. in pharmacology from Yale University and completed postdoctoral training at New York University.

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