Research Grant Recipients

The Research Grant Recipients Archive describes studies that were funded by the IOCDF and its predecessor, the Obsessive Compulsive Foundation (OCF), since 1994. We are working to provide the most up-to-date information about these studies, with the collaboration of the researchers who have conducted the research presented here. While some entries are complete with descriptions and resulting publications, updating others is a work in progress as we get the latest details.

For more information about any of the studies presented in our Archive, please email research@iocdf.org

Introduction

Research is vital to our goals of increasing our understanding of OCD and related disorders, improving treatment, and reducing stigma. To help achieve these goals, the IOCDF awards research grants to promising studies thanks to generous donors from within the OCD community.

Since 1994, the IOCDF has awarded $10.6 million in research grants, and continues to offer research grant awards annually. As of 2022, there are three grants available: the Breakthrough Award, the Innovator Award, and the Michael A. Jenike Young Investigator Award.

Breakthrough Awards

Since 2018, Breakthrough Awards are awarded to investigators whose work represents “high-risk, high-reward” science that could make a profound impact in the field of OCD and related disorders. The goal of the Breakthrough Awards is to accelerate progress toward new and more effective treatments for OCD, leading us closer to a cure. These Awards are made possible through the generosity of anonymous donors.

Innovator Awards

Since 2019, the Innovator Award is awarded to an investigator whose work focuses on the ultimate goal of finding a cure for OCD and related disorders. In 2022, researchers submitted proposals to explore a special focus: the relationship between co-occurring OCD and bipolar disorder. Bipolar disorder is a serious mental health condition marked by depressive and manic episodes, whose interaction with OCD can lead to a worsening of symptoms and quality of life. By exploring the underlying mechanisms and causes of co-occurring OCD and bipolar disorder, the awardee will advance our understanding and contribute to the development of more effective treatments for both conditions. This Award is typically made possible through the generosity of an anonymous donor, but has been funded by the Walder Family Charitable Fund in 2022.

Michael A. Jenike Young Investigator Awards

Since 2018, the Michael A. Jenike Young Investigator Award has funded promising early-career researchers who are working to establish themselves in the field of OCD and related disorders. Funding for Young Investigator Awards is allocated towards several specific topics each year, such as body dysmorphic disorder; the role of race, ethnicity, and culture in OCD and related disorders; and PANDAS/PANS. These Awards are made possible through the generosity of thousands of individual donors who contribute to the IOCDF Research Grant Fund every year. In 2022, PANDAS Network funded two Young Investigator Awards that focused on PANDAS/PANS.

What can an IOCDF Research Grant Award help us learn about OCD and related disorders?

Jonathan S. Abramowitz, PhD, ABPP, discusses his IOCDF grant-funded research into couple-based cognitive behavioral therapy for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

2022 Research Grant Awardees

We are excited to announce the 2022 IOCDF Research Grant awardees! We awarded $1.6 million in funding to researchers pursuing exciting and impactful projects on a range of topics in OCD and related disorders including PANDAS/PANS. To read more about their projects, click "2022 IOCDF Research Grant Award Winners" below!

Previous IOCDF Research Grant Recipients

The generosity of our donors has made it possible for us to provide sustained support for OCD and related disorders research for the past 26 years. Over 130 projects have been funded on a wide range of important topics. You can learn more about the research that the IOCDF funds by reading the project summaries below.

 Research funded by the IOCDF:

Thank you to our 2022 Grant Review Committee:

Christopher Pittenger, MD, PhD - Yale University (Chair)
Jennifer Freeman, PhD - Butler Hospital/Brown University (Vice Chair)

Thomas Adams, PhD - University of Kentucky
Dritan Agalliu, PhD - Columbia University
Susanne Ahmari, MD, PhD - University of Pittsburgh
Rebecca Anderson, PhD - Curtin University
Paul Arnold, MD, PhD - University of Calgary
Catherine Ayers, PhD - University of California San Diego
Novin Balafkan, PhD - Yale University
David Barker, PhD - Brown University
Cynthia Battle, PhD - Brown University
Kristen Benito, PhD - Brown University/Butler Hospital
Michael Bloch, MD - Yale University
Christiana Bratiotis, MSW, PhD - University of British Columbia
Alexander Bystritsky, MD, PhD - University of California, Los Angeles
Matthew Carper, PhD - Brown University
Gregory Chasson, PhD - Illinois Institute of Technology
Terence Ching, PhD - Yale University
Christine Conelea, PhD - University of Minnesota
Madeleine Cunningham, PhD - University of Oklahoma
Michael Daines, MD - University of Arizona
Justine Dembo, MD, FRCPC - University of Toronto
Darin Dougherty, MD - Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School
Stephanie Dulawa, PhD - University of California, San Diego
Lara Farrell, PhD - Griffith University
Thomas Fernandez, MD - Yale University
Jamie Feusner, MD - University of California Los Angeles
Martijn Figee, MD, PhD - Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Leonardo Fontenelle, MD, PhD - Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro
Martin Franklin, PhD - Rogers Behavioral Health
Jennifer Frankovich, MD - Stanford University
Jennifer Freeman, PhD - Butler Hospital/Brown University
Sarah Garnaat, PhD - Brown University
Wayne Goodman, MD - Baylor College of Medicine
Jon Grant, JD, MD, MPH - University of Chicago
Jennifer Greenberg, PsyD - Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School
Jessica Grisham, PhD - University of New South Wales, Sydney
Edna Grünblatt, PhD - University of Zurich
Robert Hudak, MD - University of Pittsburgh
Ryan Jacoby, PhD - Harvard University/Massachusetts General Hospital
Reilly Kayser, MD - Columbia University
Benjamin Kelmendi, MD - Yale University
Joshua Kemp, PhD - Brown University/Butler Hospital
James Knowles, MD, PhD - State University of New York, Downstate
Lorrin Koran, MD - Stanford University
Gayle Maloney, PhD - Yale University
David Mataix-Cols, PhD - Karolinska Institutet
Nicole McLaughlin, PhD - Brown University
Jeffrey Miller, MD - Columbia University
Steffen Moritz, PhD - University Medical Center, Hamburg
Andrew Moses Lee, MD, PhD - University of California, San Francisco
Naveen Nagarajan, PhD - University of Utah
Melissa Norberg, PhD - Macquarie University
Jacob Nota, PhD - McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School
David Nutt, DM, FRCP - Imperial College London
Erin O’Connor, PhD - Brown University
Bunmi Olatunji, PhD - Vanderbilt University
Edward Pace-Schott, PhD - Harvard Medical School
Michele Pato, MD - Rutgers University
Tara Peris, PhD - University of California, Los Angeles
Katharine Phillips, MD - Weill Cornell Medical College
Anthony Pinto, PhD - Zucker Hillside Hospital/Northwell Health
Christopher Pittenger, MD, PhD - Yale University
Renato Polimanti, PhD - Yale School of Medicine
Andrea Pozza, PhD - University of Siena
Peggy Richter, MD, FRCP - University of Toronto
Bradley Riemann, PhD - Rogers Behavioral Health
Carolyn Rodriguez, MD, PhD - Stanford University
Sanjaya Saxena, MD - University of California, San Diego
H. Blair Simpson, MD, PhD - Columbia University
Gail Steketee, PhD - Boston University
Emily Stern, PhD - New York University/Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene
Eric Storch, PhD - Baylor College of Medicine
Margo Thienemann, MD - Stanford University
Kiara Timpano, PhD - University of Miami
Peter Tuerk, PhD - University of Virginia
Michael Twohig, PhD - Utah State University
Daniel Tylee, MD, PhD - Yale School of Medicine
Anna Van Meter, PhD - New York University
Barbara Van Noppen, PhD - University of Southern California
Hilary Weingarden, PhD - Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard University
Chad Wetterneck, PhD - University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee
Michael Wheaton, PhD - Barnard College
Kyle Williams, MD, PhD - Harvard University
Monnica Williams, PhD - University of Ottawa
Bethany Wootton, PhD - University of Technology, Sydney
Brian Zaboski, PhD - Yale University