2010-2023 Donald F. Klein Early Career Investigator Awardees

Congratulations to our past Klein awardees for the best original research paper on neurobiology, psychopharmacology, psychosocial treatments, or experimental psychopathology of anxiety disorders and depression.

2024

Kristin Szuhny, PhD
NYU Langone Health

"I am appreciative and grateful for the support of ADAA for early career investigators, particularly through the Donald F. Klein Early Career Investigator Award. Due to this award, my research in transdiagnostic processes associated with anxiety disorders was highlighted at the national conference and promoted on a broader scale to clinicians and researchers, an invaluable opportunity for someone early in their career. I also valued meeting the vast array of talented researchers and clinicians involved in ADAA and the support offered to continue to build my professional community and connections. This is a fantastic program and one of many to support students, postdoctoral fellows, and early career investigators offered by ADAA."

2023

Emily Belleau, PhD
McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School

“ADAA has this very unique blend that brings together basic researchers, clinical researchers and clinicians in practice. Having those diverse perspectives is so important for moving the science forward. When you’re at a time in your early career, gaining visibility in your research agenda is so important, and this award helps that in multiple ways: through an interview with ADAA, presenting at the conference, facilitating a webinar, and fostering connections with other researchers.”

2022

Sage E. Hawn, PhD
Boston University School of Medicine

"Thanks to the Donald F. Klein award, I had the pleasure of attending my first ADAA conference.  The conference covered a refreshing blend of basic and applied topics and provided me with ample networking opportunities, which are invaluable as I transition into an independent faculty position.  I particularly enjoyed meeting several CDLP awardees and hearing about their research, which I am hopeful will lead to future collaborations.  The Donald F. Klein award offers a wonderful opportunity to highlight the work of promising young investigators and provides the logistical support for them to be able to share their work with the field more broadly.  I am grateful for the opportunity to share my work with others and to have expanded my academic connections."

2021

Annmarie MacNamara
Texas A&M University

"I am honored to have been selected as the ADAA Donald F. Klein Early Investigator 2021 awardee and to follow in the footsteps of so impressive a group of prior awardees. I am grateful to members of my Multimethod Affect and Cognition lab (MAClab) and to my graduate and postdoctoral mentors for the essential roles they have played in my path here. Consistent with the mission of ADAA, my long-term goal is to increase understanding of the mechanisms underlying emotional disorders, so that diagnosis and treatment can be improved and the suffering and cost associated with these disorders reduced. I look forward to sharing my work at the 2021 ADAA conference and to continued involvement with the organization."

Finalist

Hilary Weingarden
Massachusetts General Hospital & Harvard Medical School

2020

Sanne J. von Rooij
Emory University

"It was a great honor to receive the Donald F. Klein Early Career Investigator Award. It was valued by my institution and other professionals in the field. I am very thankful to ADAA for featuring my research extensively in their email communications, which was tremendously helpful in reaching a wide audience for my paper. Unfortunately, the meeting was cancelled due to COVID-19 so I did not have the opportunity to benefit from the mentorship and in person networking opportunities. However, ADAA has been an absolutely wonderful association to be part of, and I would highly recommend applying for this award and attending future meetings."

Finalist

Autumn Kujawa, PhD
Vanderbilt University

2019

Suzanne Vrshek-Schallhorn, PhD 
University of North Carolina-Greensboro

2018

Katie Burkhouse, PhD
UIC's Pediatric Mood Disorders Clinic

"I am very thankful to ADAA for receiving the Donald F. Klein Early Career Investigator Award and being selected to participate in the CDLP program at the ADAA annual meeting in 2017. These opportunities allowed me to consult and network with renowned leaders in the field and to receive invaluable feedback regarding my program of research from scientists who shared similar interests. It is a great opportunity for both clinician and research-track trainees, and I highly recommend applying for these awards and attending the meeting."

2017

Jessica Maples-Keller, PhD Emory University School of Medicine
Targeting Memory Reconsolidation to Prevent the Return of Fear in Patients with Fear of Flying

Finalists:

Annmarie MacNamara, PhD Multimethod Affect and Cognition Lab, Texas A&M University
Transdiagnostic Neural Correlates of Affective Face Processing in Anxiety and Depression

Danielle R. Miller, PhD National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptom Severity is Associated with Reduced Default Mode Network Connectivity in Individuals with Elevated Genetic Rsk for Psychopathology

2016

Erin Dunn, ScD
Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) and Genome-Environment-Wide Interaction Study (GEWIS) of Depressive Symptoms in African American and Hispanic/Latina Women

"It was a tremendous honor for me to receive the Donald F. Klein Early Career Investigator Award, which was based on research I completed during post-doctoral training. Although receiving the award was an honor in and of itself, it also came with a number of other benefits, including funds, complimentary conference registration, and a connection to a senior mentor working in my field. The paper I submitted for this award was also published (within a few months) in the journal Depression & Anxiety. The ADAA meeting was one of the most unique conferences I have ever attended, where clinicians and researchers regularly come together and there was an explicit commitment throughout all of the programming to support early career investigators. I can't imagine a more prestigious and general award - it is a 'no-brainer' to apply."

Finalists                
Negar Fani, PhD
Emory University
Structural and Functional Connectivity in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Associations with FKBP5

Anthony King, PhD
University of Michigan
Altered Default Mode Network (DMN) Resting State Functional Connectivity Following a Mindfulness-based Exposure Therapy for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in Combat Veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq

Heide Klumpp, PhD
University of Illinois at Chicago
Neural Reactivity to Reward as a Predictor of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Response in Anxiety and Depression

Naomi Sadeh, PhD
National Center for PTSD, VA Boston Healthcare System
Epigenetic Variation at SKA2 Predicts Suicide Phenotypes and Internalizing Psychopathology

2015

Phillip Johnson, PhD
Indiana University School of Medicine
Orexin 1 and 2 Receptor Involvement in CO2-Induced Panic-Associated Behaviors and Autonomic Responses

Honorable Mention
Randy Auerbach, PhD
McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School
Emotion Processing Biases and Resting EEG Activity in Depressed Adolescents

2014

Rebecca B. Price, PhD
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Looking Under the Hood of the Dot-Probe Task: An fMRI Study in Anxious Youth

"As a winner of the Donald F. Klein Early Investigator Award, I felt that the organization was fully committed to fostering my career growth and opening new and exciting doors for me. ADAA helped broadcast my work to a wide audience, both during the annual convention and beyond (e.g., through their email distributions and journal). It was a fund and rewarding experience that reflected the many positive qualities of the ADAA community as a 'professional home ' -- warmth and friendliness, integrations across research-to-practice continuum, and a strong commitment to making a difference."

2013

Chandra Sripada, MD, PhD
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Aberrant Reward Center Response to Partner Reputation During a Social Exchange Game in Generalized Social Phobia

2012

Roxann Roberson-Nay, PhD
Virginia Commonwealth University
Childhood Separation Anxiety Disorder and Adult Onset Panic Attacks Share a Common Genetic Diathesis

Christopher Lowry, PhD
University of Colorado Boulder
Elevated tph2 mRNA in a Rat Model of Chronic Anxiety

"Winning the Donald F. Klein Early Career Investigator Award in 2021 and participating in the ADAA meeting opened new doors academically and professionally. Having a mentor from the ADAA Scientific Council, whose interests are closely aligned with my own, both enhanced the meeting experience and led to new meaningful collaborations. The organizers and attendees at the meetings were exceptionally warm and welcoming to a newcomer, and highly recommend applying to available awards and attending the annual ADAA meeting."

2011

First Place
Jacek Debiec, MD, PhD
New York University
Memory Reconsolidation Studies and Their Implications for PTSD

Honorable Mention
Heide Klumpp, PhD
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Trait Anxiety Modulates Anterior Cingulate Activation to Threat Interference

Honorable Mention
Carmen Andreescu, MD
University of Pittsburgh
Altered Cerebral Blood Flow Patterns Associated With Pathologic Worry in the Elderly

2010

Greg Hajcak, PhD
Stony Brook University
Distinct Electrocortical and Behavioral Evidence for Increased Attention to Threat in Generalized Anxiety Disorder

• Learn more about the Klein Award