Accelerated studies of mental illness with unique neuroimaging techniques and an expanded network for research has been advanced with $3.2 million in awards this summer to The Mind Research Network (MRN).  The awards include a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant to the lab of Vince Calhoun to help drive progress in better understanding schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

"The grant allows MRN to develop an international collaboration for us to look at the similarities and differences between schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression and schizoaffective disorders," said Calhoun, who is chief technology officer for MRN, and professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of New Mexico.  "The ultimate goal is to deliver to the clinic more individualized treatment for people challenged by these diseases."

Calhoun's award will be shared with the Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center, the Laureate Brain Imaging Institute, and the University of London.

Other grants received this summer support early childhood development studies, a bioinformatics research center, and continued development of imaging tools and techniques towards earlier diagnosis and treatment of mental illness, addiction, epilepsy, autism and other brain diseases and brain injuries. NIH, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Energy, the McArthur Foundation, and UNM are among the agencies making the awards.

The Mind Research Network on the UNM campus is a nonprofit neurodiscovery center founded in 1998 in Albuquerque by then U.S. Senator Pete Domenici. Today, MRN is a multi-million dollar facility with world–class recognition in the bioscience industry.

Media contact: Lisa Breeden (505) 681-7110; e-mail: lbreeden@mrn.org