image: American psychiatrist and neuroscientist Eric Nestler is being honoured for his pioneering work in bridging the gap between fundamental neuroscience research and clinical psychiatry.
Credit: DR
The Synapsy Centre for Neuroscience Research in Mental at the University of Geneva (UNIGE) Faculty of Medicine has awarded its first prize to Professor Eric Nestler, a leading figure in the neurobiology of depression and addiction. The prize recognises a career dedicated to linking fundamental discoveries about the brain to concrete clinical advances in mental health.
Psychiatry has been evolving over the past twenty years. Driven by a new scientific ambition, it seeks to understand the biological mechanisms underlying mental disorders to improve their diagnosis and treatment. This translational approach aims to foster dialogue between neuroscience and psychiatry, two disciplines that are often compartmentalised. This shift is at the heart of the mission of the Synapsy Centre for Neuroscience Research in Mental Health (Synapsy Centre). Created in 2010 as a national research centre, Synapsy became a permanent faculty centre in 2022. And the stakes of its mission are enormous. In 2019, nearly 970 million people worldwide were living with a mental disorder, mainly anxiety and depression, according to the WHO. These diseases significantly reduce life expectancy and impact society as a whole. They require new approaches to combat them, and it all starts with research. The Synapsy Prize was created to recognise those who contribute to bridging the gap between research and clinical reality. It’s an honorary award and a sum of money dedicated to the person. Its very first winner, Eric Nestler, MD, PhD, researcher and Anne and Joel Ehrenkranz dean at the Icahn school of medicine at Mount Sinai (New York) perfectly embodies this approach.
Research between two worlds
Eric Nestler has devoted his career to exploring the biological basis of depression and addiction. His pioneering work has shown how stress and addictive substances permanently alter gene expression in the brain, affecting the neural circuits involved in reward and mood. “Eric Nestler was one of the first to demonstrate that it is not only possible, but necessary, to build solid bridges between fundamental neuroscience and clinical psychiatry,” emphasises Christian Lüscher, professor at UNIGE, Director of Synapsy and chair of the award committee. “His career perfectly embodies Synapsy’s vision of brain research that is open to society and works to alleviate psychological suffering.”
The author of more than 700 publications, Eric Nestler has had a lasting influence on his discipline, notably by bringing a dynamic vision of resilience, the mental ability to adapt to difficulties and bounce back after stressful or traumatic situations. “We have shown that resilience is not simply an absence of vulnerability, but an active process, a molecular programme that can be stimulated and strengthened, particularly to cope with depression,” he explains.
The importance of training
Trained as both a psychiatrist and a neuroscientist, Eric Nestler has always made the link between experimental models and clinical realities. “We start with human observations to design animal experiments, which we then validate on post-mortem brain tissue from patients, before returning to animal models to generate novel approaches for eventual clinical applications,” he summarises. Several mechanisms identified by this rigorous translational method have now reached the clinical trial stage. “To advance mental health, tomorrow’s research laboratories will have to bring together molecules, cells, circuits, and behaviours, and establish causal links across these different scales,” he adds.
For him, like the Synapsy approach, this new translational strategy to research is not enough on its own. “We also need to create a genuine scientific ecosystem by training hybrid researchers who are capable of navigating between clinical research in psychiatry and fundamental research in neuroscience,” he explains.
Propelling a new ecosystem
“Mental health has suffered for too long from a divide between research and clinical practice,” says Christian Lüscher. “With Synapsy, we want to create a space for collaboration and trust, where disciplines enrich each other. This is how we can develop a modern form of psychiatry, based on the mechanisms of the brain, but focused on the needs of patients.”
By honouring Eric Nestler, the Synapsy Centre wishes to pay tribute to a scientist whose work has inspired an entire generation and paved the way for more precise and effective treatments based on clinical observations made on humans.