Danella Hafeman, MD, PhD, Receives 2023 Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Gerald R. Klerman Award
Please join us in congratulating Danella Hafeman, MD, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry), who has received the 2023 Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (BBRF) Gerald R. Klerman Award. The Klerman award honors outstanding clinical research achievement by a BBRF young investigator.
Dr. Hafeman is a clinical expert in pediatric mood disorders and her research focuses on the prediction of bipolar disorder in offspring of parents with bipolar disorder. She has made critical contributions to improving our understanding of the risk for bipolar disorder in offspring of parents with bipolar, including the creation of the first risk calculator for predicting bipolar disorder in at-risk youth. Dr. Hafeman has also tested a mindfulness intervention for youth at high risk for bipolar disorder and identified changes in connectivity between the posterior cingulate cortex and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex as a marker of resilience and a possible target for mindfulness. She is currently principal investigator (PI) of a National Institute of Mental Health R01 grant focused on testing neurobehavioral mechanisms of a mindfulness-based intervention to target mood lability in early adolescents at elevated risk for developing mood disorders. Dr. Hafeman is also site PI of a Milken Foundation grant focused on treatment for youth with or at high risk for bipolar disorder.
“Dr. Hafeman is an outstanding researcher and clinician, recognized as a national and international leader in pediatric bipolar research,” said David Lewis, MD (Chair, Department of Psychiatry). “Her research productivity and clinical acumen are mutually complementary, and she is highly deserving of this prestigious award.”