JOINED THE SCIENTIFIC COUNCIL IN 1997
Director and CEO
Lieber Institute for Brain Development
Professor, Psychiatry, Neurology, Neuroscience,
and Human Genetics
Johns Hopkins University Medical School
Dr. Weinberger’s research has focused on brain mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis and treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders, especially schizophrenia. He was instrumental in focusing research on the role of abnormal brain development as a risk factor for schizophrenia. His lab identified the first genetic effects that account for variation in specific human cognitive functions and in human temperament and identified brain mechanisms related to a number of genes that have been implicated in causing psychosis, including COMT, GRM3, KCNH2, DISC1, NRG1 and ERBB4. He and his colleagues developed the first high fidelity animal model of schizophrenia. In 2003, Science magazine highlighted the genetic research of his lab as the second biggest scientific breakthrough of the year, second to the origins of the cosmos.
Dr. Weinberger was formerly Director of the Genes, Cognition, and Psychosis Program of the Intramural Research Program at the NIMH.
NARSAD Grants: Distinguished Investigator 1990 and 2000
Foundation Prizes: 1993 Lieber Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Schizophrenia Research