Dr. Urs Meyer Named the 2026 Basic Research Awardee
Dr. Meyer obtained his PhD from ETH Zurich, Switzerland, in 2007. Following postdoctoral fellowships at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany, and at the Behavioral Neurobiology Laboratory at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, he was appointed Associate Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Zurich in 2015. In 2024, he was promoted to Full Professor of Pharmacology at the University of Zurich. Since 2026, he has also served as Director of the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Vetsuisse Faculty of the University of Zurich.
Dr. Meyer’s main research interests focus on elucidating the functional interactions between the immune system and the central nervous system during brain development, as well as their roles in regulating behavior and cognition. He has pioneered animal models of maternal immune activation (MIA) to study immune-mediated neurodevelopmental disorders and investigates the role of microglia and associated neuroinflammatory processes in the etiology and pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. His research follows a multimodal approach that combines behavioral and cognitive testing with neuroanatomical, molecular, and pharmacological analyses in in vivo animal models and ex vivo experimental systems.
Through continuous collaboration with clinicians and epidemiologists, Dr. Meyer has developed a critical understanding of the challenges and opportunities associated with animal models in psychiatric research, thereby enhancing the translational relevance of his preclinical findings to clinical conditions. He has authored over 150 peer-reviewed publications, many of which have appeared in leading journals, including Science, Science Advances, The American Journal of Psychiatry, Molecular Psychiatry, Biological Psychiatry, and Trends in Neurosciences. His published work has received more than 12,000 citations according to Web of Science, and his current h-index is 62.
A Message from Dr. Urs Meyer
Receiving the SIRS Basic Research Award is deeply gratifying. It reflects and reinforces our shared vision that basic research is fundamental to advancing our understanding of the etiology and pathophysiology of schizophrenia and related disorders. This award is particularly rewarding because it honors our team’s efforts and commitment to basic research in this domain, and it strongly encourages us to continue pursuing this work with renewed commitment.
