The National Institutes of Health’s Center for Scientific Review appointed Jair C. Soares, M.D., of the Health Science Center, to the Neural Basis of Psychopathology, Addictions and Sleep Disorders Study Section.
Dr. Soares, associate professor of psychiatry, is an NIH-funded researcher of mood and anxiety problems such as bipolar disorder. He will serve as a member of the study section through June 2009. Study section members review grant applications submitted to the NIH, make recommendations on these applications to the appropriate NIH national advisory council or board, and survey the status of research in their fields of science.
“I want to take this opportunity to emphasize the importance of Dr. Soares’ participation in assuring the quality of the NIH peer-review process, and to express the NIH’s appreciation of the Health Science Center’s support of its activities,” said Toni Scarpa, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for Scientific Review.
Study section members are selected on the basis of demonstrated competence and achievement in their scientific discipline, as evidenced by the quality of research accomplishments, publications in scientific journals, and other significant scientific activities, achievements and honors.
One of Dr. Soares’ many research studies is a family study of brain abnormalities in bipolar disorder. It is estimated that up to 30 percent of children who have a parent with bipolar disorder, and up to 15 percent of those who have siblings with it, will also suffer from the disorder. The study includes magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain; this procedure is performed at the Health Science Center’s Research Imaging Center.