• Press Release

Paul Kenny, PhD, Recognized for Outstanding Basic Research Contributions to Neuropsychopharmacology

  • New York, NY
  • (December 13, 2018)

Paul Kenny, PhD, the Ward-Coleman Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, has been awarded the 2018 Daniel H. Efron Research Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP).  The award is given in recognition of outstanding basic research contributions to neuropsychopharmacology. Dr. Kenny was presented the award at the 57th Annual Meeting of the ACNP in Hollywood, Florida, on Monday, December 10.

In addition to his role as Chair of Neuroscience, Dr. Kenny serves as Director of the Drug Discovery Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.  His lab is focused on understanding the neurobiological mechanisms of drug addiction, obesity, and schizophrenia, with an emphasis on the role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in these processes. Dr. Kenny is also involved in efforts to develop novel small-molecule therapeutic agents for the treatment of drug addiction and other psychiatric indications, and is co-founder of Eolas Therapeutics, Inc., a company committed to treating the disease of addiction.

Over the past decade, Dr. Kenny has made outstanding contributions to neuropharmacology and the molecular study of addiction. He has won numerous awards, which include Young and Distinguished Investigator Awards from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, the Jarvik-Russell Award from the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, and the Jacob P. Waletzky Memorial Award from the Society for Neuroscience. He has also received the Tom Connor Distinguished Investigator Award from Neuroscience Ireland.

“Dr. Kenny is absolutely spectacular. He has the highest of ethical standards and he has earned the respect of his colleagues and peers,” said Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and Director of The Friedman Brain Institute at Mount Sinai. “I am confident that his world-class research program will continue to make ground-breaking contributions to our understanding of drug addiction, discoveries that could rapidly set the stage for the development of novel therapeutic interventions.”

About the Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System is one of the nation’s leading integrated academic health systems and one of the largest in the New York metropolitan area. Its comprehensive system includes seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, over 600 research and clinical laboratories, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and the Mount Sinai Phillips School of Nursing. Together, the Health System comprises approximately 48,000 employees, more than 9,000 physicians, and 8,600 nurses.

As a leading learning health system, Mount Sinai combines clinical expertise with scientific discovery to improve patient care while training the next generation of health care and biomedical leaders. The Health System provides care across every stage of life, from prenatal care through geriatrics, while advancing personalized medicine through artificial intelligence, data science, and biomedical research.

Mount Sinai is consistently recognized among the nation’s leading academic health systems for patient care, research, and education. The Mount Sinai Hospital is ranked No. 1 in New York by Newsweek and No. 5 on the magazine’s World’s Best Hospitals list. The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai ranks No. 11 among U.S. medical schools and No. 1 among freestanding medical schools for National Institutes of Health funding, reflecting the strength of its scientific enterprise and leadership in biomedical research.

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