Investigators
Robert W. Buchanan, MD
Professor of Psychiatry
Director, Maryland Psychiatric Research Center (MPRC)
Dr. Buchanan, MPRC Director since 2013, has played major roles in the Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia (MATRICS) project, and in the Treatment Units for Research on Neurocognition and Schizophrenia (TURNS) consortium. Leading Project 4, he will examine the effects of tryptophan-induced kynurenine pathway stimulation and cognition in controls and schizophrenia patients.
William T. Carpenter, MD
Professor of Psychiatry
Dr. Carpenter is co-leader of the Scientific Administration Core. He was MPRC Director from 1977 to 2013, and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and Editor-in-Chief of Schizophrenia Bulletin. A major opinion leader in schizophrenia research globally, he has made fundamental contributions in regard to psychopathology, assessment methodology, testing of novel treatments, and research ethics.
L. Elliot Hong, MD
Professor of Psychiatry
Dr. Hong uses neuroimaging, genetics and neurophysiological methods to study both the etiology and innovative treatments of schizophrenia. As leader of Project 3, he will explore the effects of psychological and other stressors on kynurenine pathway metabolism in healthy subjects and in individuals with schizophrenia, using an array of state-of-the art imaging, electrophysiology and modeling approaches.
Robert Schwarcz, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry
Maryland Psychiatric Research Center (MPRC)
Dr. Schwarcz originally identified kynurenic acid in the brain and has studied its neurobiology for more than 30 years. As Principal Investigator of the Center, he is responsible for overall strategy and for assuring optimal synergism between pre-clinical and clinical projects. As leader of Project 1, he will examine the prenatal regulation of kynurenic acid production in the rodent brain and the long-term effects of increased fetal kynurenic acid formation.
Leonardo H. Tonelli, PhD
Associate Professor of Psychiatry
Dr. Tonelli is a psychoneuroimmunologist with a background in neuroendocrinology, behavioral neuroscience and molecular biology. Leading Project 2, he will study the regulation of kynurenine pathway metabolism in mouse models of prenatal infection, focusing on the long-term neurodevelopmental effects of perinatal inflammation.