The American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) has named Andrew Holmes, Ph.D. as one of two winners of the 2016 Daniel H. Efron Research Award. Dr. Holmes directs the Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). This award, presented at the 55th Annual Meeting of the ACNP in Hollywood, Florida, is in recognition of outstanding basic research contributions to neuropsychopharmacology. The contributions may be preclinical or work that emphasizes the interface between basic and clinical research. The selection of the awardee is based on the quality of the contribution and its impact in advancing neuropsychopharmacology.
Dr. Holmes' work is focused on understanding of the causes of alcoholism and comorbid neuropsychiatric conditions such as mood and anxiety disorders. Over his career, he has performed innovative studies using rodent models of chronic alcohol exposure and chronic stress to examine how these factors influence behavior, brain physiology and brain neurocircuitry. His work emphasizes individual differences, including genetic factors as well as the role of the environment, sex and age. He has made major contributions to our understanding of the prefrontal cortex to limbic and dorsal striatal circuits, which hare known to be critical for the regulation of emotion, cognition and executive control over drug-seeking.
Dr. Holmes has published a total of 170 research articles and reviews, many of which are in journals considered to be top tier in his field of research, together these publications have been cited more than 13,000 times. He has been the recipient of a number of other awards from prestigious professional groups, including the A. E. Bennett Award of the Society of Biological Psychiatry. He serves in editorial roles for eight professional journals, and has served as a mentor for a number of young investigators who have gone on to successful research careers themselves.
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ACNP, founded in 1961, is a professional organization of more than 1000 leading scientists, including four Nobel Laureates. The mission of ACNP is to further research and education in neuropsychopharmacology and related fields in the following ways: promoting the interaction of a broad range of scientific disciplines of brain and behavior in order to advance the understanding of prevention and treatment of disease of the nervous system including psychiatric, neurological, behavioral and addictive disorders; encouraging scientists to enter research careers in fields related to these disorders and their treatment; and ensuring the dissemination of relevant scientific advances.