Child Mind Institute Announces 2018 Rising Scientist Awards & Scholarship Recipients

Five New York Metro High School Students Recognized at the Child Mind Institute’s Annual On the Shoulders of Giants Scientific Symposium in New York City

New York, NY – The Child Mind Institute presented the 8th Annual Rising Scientist Awards to five exceptional high school students from the New York metro area who have demonstrated extraordinary promise in research in the fields of child and adolescent mental health or pediatric neuroscience. The students each received a $2,000 scholarship towards college during the On the Shoulders of Giants Scientific Symposium, the nonprofit’s annual celebration of scientific achievement in child and adolescent psychiatry, psychology, and developmental neuroscience. The Child Mind Institute’s partner in presenting the Rising Scientist Awards is the Advanced Science Research Center at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (ASRC).

The 2018 Rising Scientists are joining 46 prior award winners who went to study at some of the nation’s most prestigious academic institutions:

• James Rogers, Smithtown High School
• John Sukumar, Ossining High School
• Ellen Amico, Byram Hills High School
• Julia Morneau, Wilton High School
• Arsam Shaikh, High School for Youth & Community Development – New Visions for Public Schools

“Each recipient of the Rising Scientist Award shows drive, commitment and vision for the future of mental health and neuroscience,” said Child Mind Institute Co-Founder and President Harold S. Koplewicz, MD. “At such a young age, these impressive students already have the motivation and the promise to make strides towards changing the way we look at and treat mental health disorders.”

The Rising Scientist Awards, which are granted annually, were designed to encourage young researchers’ academic pursuits and introduce them to the scientific community. Each spring, the Child Mind Institute and the Advanced Science Research Center at the Graduate Center of CUNY invite New York-area high schools to nominate one exemplary 11th grade science student candidate for this honor. The nomination is based on outstanding achievement and interest in the field of research for child and adolescent mental health or pediatric neuroscience and a commitment to understanding and addressing difficult scientific questions, as evidenced by special projects, presentations and/or publications.

In addition to receiving the award, the winners, their parents and faculty sponsors were invited to attend a breakfast with special guest Felton Earls, MD., Professor of Social Medicine, Emeritus, Harvard Medical School, and Professor of Human Behavior and Development, Emeritus, at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the 2018 recipient of the Child Mind Institute’s Sarah Gund Prize for Research and Mentorship in Child Mental Health.

Nominations were reviewed by a committee of mental health experts including:

• Harold Koplewicz, MD, founder and president of the Child Mind Institute
• Ron Steingard, MD, associate medical director of the Child Mind Institute; Professor of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts Medical School
• Alexandre Franco, MD, PhD, research scientist at the Child Mind Institute and the Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research
• Neal Ryan, MD, Scientific Research Council Member and Professor of Psychiatry at University of Pittsburgh
• Camille Santistevan, MSW, Associate Director, Advanced Science Research Center

Dr. Steingard chaired the committee, which considered the merits of all nominations and used a point system to rate scientific achievement and to select the winners.

The 2019 Rising Scientists nominations will open February 1, 2019. Visit https://childmind.org/our-research/rising-scientist-scholarship/ to nominate student.

About the Child Mind Institute
The Child Mind Institute is an independent, national nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of children and families struggling with mental health and learning disorders. Our teams work every day to deliver the highest standards of care, advance the science of the developing brain, and empower parents, professionals and policymakers to support children when and where they need it most. Together with our supporters, we’re helping children reach their full potential in school and in life. We share all of our resources freely and do not accept any funding from the pharmaceutical industry. Learn more at childmind.org.

About the Advanced Science Research Center at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York (ASRC)

ASRC is a University-wide venture that elevates CUNY’s legacy of scientific research and education through initiatives in five distinctive, but increasingly interconnected disciplines: Nanoscience, Photonics, Structural Biology, Neuroscience and Environmental Sciences. The center is designed to promote a unique, interdisciplinary research culture with researchers from each of the initiatives working side by side in the ASRC’s core facilities, sharing equipment that is among the most advanced available