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2024 Research Fund Awardee

SIRS Awards the 2024 Research Fund Award

SIRS is committed to directly supporting early career researchers who have important and novel ideas that may have immediate effects on improving the lives of people with schizophrenia. SIRS established a Research Fund Award for this purpose. The award is intended to provide research funds for junior investigators who have an important idea or hypothesis to test but are lacking in research funds to do so.

The Schizophrenia International Research Society (SIRS) has awarded the 2024 Research Fund Award to: 

Awardee: Ilaria Domenicano, Ph.D.
University of Ferrara
Ferrara, Italy

Awardee: Delfina Lahitou Herlyn, M.D., Ph.D
Institute of Neurosciences
Buenos Aires, Argentina

A Message from Ilaria Domenicano

The SIRS Research Fund Award will allow me to develop Machine Learning algorithms to investigate risk factors which might contribute to long-acting injection (LAI) antipsychotics treatment instability in patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorder. These predictors can help identify those patients who may benefit from tailored, individualized, and integrated approaches to improve treatment adherence. An adequate LAI compliance would translate into improved outcomes including the reduction of relapse, rehospitalization risk, and ultimately direct and indirect healthcare costs. 

A Message from Delfina Lahitou Herlyn

Our work focuses on understanding how adversity shapes brain structure, vagal rhythm, and emotional regulation in individuals with schizophrenia, with a particular emphasis on populations in Argentina.

A key focus of our project is to explore how socio-economic factors, gender differences, and gender inequality influence mental health outcomes in this population. By examining these critical yet understudied dimensions, particularly in Latin American populations, we aim to address the unique challenges faced by individuals in low-resource settings where poverty and social inequities significantly affect mental health.

Through this work, we hope to contribute to scientific knowledge and expand our understanding of the ways in which early adversity impacts brain and emotional health. We also aim to advance trauma-informed, personalized care approaches that can improve outcomes for individuals with schizophrenia.

Support the Research Fund Award

The SIRS Research Fund Award has proven invaluable to supporting the research development of early career researchers. Through past donations, SIRS has provided three research fund awards to junior investigators. The 2019 awardee, Yoji Hirano of Kyushu University in Japan, used an MRI biofeedback method to alleviate auditory hallucinations in patients. The 2020 SIRS Research Fund Award went to Leandro Valiengo from Sao Paolo, Brazil. The funds enabled the use of a unique non-invasive procedure called biophotomodulation in a treatment trial for alleviating the negative symptoms of schizophrenia. The 2021 funds went to Dr. Vuyokazi Ntlantsana from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and were used towards a Brief Relaxation, Education and Trauma Healing (BREATHE) in patients with first episode psychosis and post-traumatic stress disorder. In 2022 the funds went to Dr. Kwun Nam Chan from the University of Hong Kong in China. In 2023 the funds went to Dr. Caitlin Ridgewell at McLean Hospital in Belmont, MA. Now in 2024, the funds were awarded to Dr. Ilaria Domenicano at University of Ferrara in Ferrara, Italy and Dr. Delfina Lahitou Herlyn at Institute of Neurosciences in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

It is estimated that 1 in every 100 people in the world live with schizophrenia. Even more live with psychosis. Now more than ever there is a need for increased research funding for schizophrenia research around the world. Consider supporting early career researchers and junior investigators with project ideas that would improve the lives of people with schizophrenia by donating to the SIRS research award.

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