News

The International College of Geriatric Psychoneuropharmacology (ICGP) has presented Meryl A. Butters, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical and Translational Science, with the 2015 Senior Investigator Award.  

Dr. Butters was presented with the award at the recent ICGP Annual Meeting that took place in Palo Alto, CA. The award recognizes Dr. Butters's outstanding research contributions on the interface of neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders, especially late life depression, as well as her outstanding mentorship and leadership in the field of geriatric psychiatry. Her work regarding the neurodegenerative processes in many mental health disorders in late life has influenced the approach of the field of geriatric psychiatry and shaped the field's thinking regarding the role of late life psychiatric disorders and the risk for and progression toward dementia.  

A trained clinical neuropsychologist, Dr. Butters is an investigator in the Department of Psychiatry's Advanced Center for Intervention and Services Research for Late-Life Mood Disorders Prevention & Treatment. Her research focuses on the various factors that influence cognitive functioning in older adults (including those who are healthy and those with neuropsychiatric disorders), and especially on developing a deeper understanding of the pathophysiologic mechanisms that under lie the varied long-term cognitive outcomes of mood disorders, including dementia.