John H. Morrison, PhD, Dean of Basic Sciences and the Graduate School of Biological Sciences of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, has received a MERIT Award) from the National Institute on Aging (NIA), a division of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
A MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) Award is grant support from the NIH that honors a longstanding and distinguished record in scientific research and achievement. Dr. Morrison is the fifth researcher at Mount Sinai to receive a MERIT Award in the last four years.
The $5 million MERIT Award will support Dr. Morrison’s research over the next 10 years. Dr. Morrison received the award for his work examining the effects of aging on the brain, which he has been working on for the last two decades.
Dr. Morrison is investigating the neuroplasticity or adaptability of brain cells, especially those involved with learning and memory. Typically, brain cells lose their neuroplasticity during normal aging. Dr. Morrison’s goal is to identify when and where changes in brain cell neuroplasticity take place, and how to intervene to promote successful brain cell adaptability. This, in turn, may help reduce the risk of age-related cognitive decline, or possibly even dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, he explained.
That the MERIT Award comes at a time when funding from the National Institutes of Health is shrinking is especially noteworthy, said Dr. Morrison. “This kind of financial support from the NIH during a challenging time for researchers is a testament to the strength of the entire Mount Sinai faculty.”
To put the grant in perspective, only 10 percent of researchers submitting grant requests to the NIH are approved each year; of that 10 percent, less than two percent receive MERIT Award support. “To have five MERIT awardees at Mount Sinai at one time is an achievement,” says Dr. Morrison.
About Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Located in Manhattan, Mount Sinai School of Medicine is internationally recognized for ground-breaking clinical and basic-science research, and innovative approaches to medical education. Through the Mount Sinai Graduate School of Biological Sciences, Mount Sinai trains biomedical researchers with an emphasis on the rapid translation of discoveries of basic research into new techniques for fighting disease. One indication of Mount Sinai’s leadership in scientific investigation is its receipt during fiscal year 2005 of $174.1 million in research support from NIH. Mount Sinai School of Medicine also is known for unique educational programs such as the Humanities in Medicine program, which creates opportunities for liberal arts students to pursue medical school, and instructional innovations like The Morchand Center, the nation's largest program teaching students and physicians with "standardized patients" to become not only highly skilled, but compassionate caregivers. Long dedicated to improving its community, the School extends its boundaries to work with East Harlem and surrounding communities to provide access to health care and educational programs to at risk populations.