Iversen Receives $25,000 Julius Axelrod Prize
For immediate release.
IVERSEN RECEIVES $25,000 JULIUS AXELROD PRIZE
Scientist recognized for distinguished achievements in neuropharmacology and exemplary efforts in mentoring young scientists
Washington, DC — The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) today awarded the Julius Axelrod Prize to Leslie L. Iversen, PhD, of the University of Oxford during Neuroscience 2008, the SfN annual meeting and the world’s largest source of emerging news on brain science and health. Supported by Eli Lilly & Co., SfN awards the prize, which includes $25,000, to recognize distinguished achievements in neuropharmacology and exemplary efforts in mentoring young scientists.
“Dr. Iversen is an outstanding neuropharmacologist and internationally recognized for his fundamental contributions to the understanding of neurotransmission,” said Eve Marder, PhD, president of SfN.
Over a distinguished 45-year career, Iversen has made numerous discoveries that transformed the understanding of chemical neurotransmission in the mammalian brain, and provided new insight into the ways that drugs influence synaptic function. His work has implications for drug discovery and therapeutics. His accomplishments include pioneering analysis of neurotransmitter defects in schizophrenia, Huntington’s chorea, and Alzheimer’s disease.
During his career, Iversen has trained more than 100 students and postdoctoral fellows, and his work has influenced the field. Since 1995, he has served as a Visiting Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Oxford.
Iversen will speak at a symposium organized by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke on Sunday, November 16, in conjunction with Neuroscience 2008 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
Axelrod, a long-time SfN member, shared the 1970 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of the actions of neurotransmitters in regulating the metabolism of the nervous system. Among the drug discoveries his work helped spur were selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, and he played a key role in the discovery of the pain-relieving properties of acetaminophen. He is well-known for his work on brain chemistry in the early 1960s that led to current treatments for depression and anxiety disorders. Throughout his career, he mentored dozens of young scientists, many of whom have gone on to distinguished careers in neuroscience and pharmacology. He died in 2004 at age 92.
The Society for Neuroscience is an organization of more than 38,000 basic scientists and clinicians who study the brain and nervous system.
