Yasmin Hurd, PhD

Each year the Child Mind Institute’s Scientific Research Council selects an exceptional researcher for the Sarah Gund Prize, in recognition of an outstanding contribution to child and adolescent psychiatry, psychology or developmental neuroscience. The award honors contributions either to clinical science or basic science. The award carries a prize of $25,000 and is presented at the Child Mind Institute’s Annual Child Advocacy Award Dinner. The award recipient, along with several other scientists selected because they have been influenced by recipient’s work, are featured presenters at our next On the Shoulders of Giants scientific symposium.

Yasmin Hurd, PhD is the Ward-Coleman Chair of Translational Neuroscience and the Director of the Addiction Institute at Mount Sinai and the winner of our Sarah Gund Prize for Research and Mentorship in Child Mental Health.

Dr. Hurd’s multidisciplinary research investigates the neurobiology underlying addiction disorders and related psychiatric illnesses.  A translational approach is used to examine molecular and neurochemical events in the human brain and comparable animal models in order to ascertain neurobiological correlates of behavior.  A major focus of the research is directed to risk factors of addiction disorders including genetics as well as developmental exposure to drugs of abuse such as cannabis. Her lab also conducts human clinical trials in developing novel therapies for opioid use disorder.