Rachel Klein, 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.

Rachel Klein, PhD, a renowned researcher, has devoted her career to studying treatments for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), learning disorders, anxiety disorders and depression. Her longitudinal studies have demonstrated the need for early identification of childhood psychiatric disorders, large-scale prevention programs and individualized treatment plans.

As director of the NYU Child Study Center’s Anita Saltz Institute for Anxiety and Mood Disorders from 1999 to 2017, Dr. Klein has mentored many of the nation’s leading researchers in child and adolescent psychiatry. She has been a key contributor to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, from DSM-III through DSM-V, published in 2013. Her many honors include the Joy and William Ruane Prize for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and a National Institute of Mental Health Merit Award. An honorary fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, she has authored seven books and over 230 scholarly articles.

Dr. Klein was appointed as an Expert Consultant to the Food & Drug Administration, as a member of a Research Task Panel for a President’s Commission on Mental Health, and also served on grant review committees of the National Institute of Mental Health, all in Washington, DC.