Schoenbaum Receives $25,000 Jacob P. Waletzky Award
Award recognizes innovative research into substance abuse and the brain
CHICAGO — The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) presented Geoffrey Schoenbaum, MD, PhD, of the University of Maryland, with the Jacob P. Waletzky Award at Neuroscience 2009, SfN’s annual meeting and the world’s largest source of emerging news on brain science and health. Established in 2003 and supported by the Waletzky family, this award includes $25,000 and is given to a scientist who has conducted research or plans to conduct research into substance abuse and the brain and nervous system.
Over the last several years, Schoenbaum has published seminal studies on the importance of the orbitofrontal cortex in decision-making and reward-seeking behaviors. His work has important implications for the neurobiological mechanisms of compulsive drug use. His approach, which combines sophisticated learning procedures and novel electrophysiological analysis, may offer insight into why drug addicts continue their substance abuse despite the adverse behavioral consequences.
“The Society congratulates Dr. Schoenbaum on receiving this prestigious award,” said Thomas J. Carew, PhD, president of SfN. “We look forward to his future research and the publication of his innovative studies for shedding light onto the mechanisms of drug addiction.”
Schoenbaum’s research has demonstrated the effects of cocaine on control processes at the cellular and behavioral levels. His work has provided evidence to support the hypothesis that exposure to addictive drugs causes long-lasting changes to learning circuits and can lead to a loss of behavioral control. Schoenbaum’s studies have also provided models to test novel approaches to the treatment of addiction.
The Society for Neuroscience is an organization of more than 39,000 researchers and clinicians who study the brain and nervous system.
