Dr. Lorenz S. Neuwirth, a faculty member in the Psychology Department and Old Westbury Neuroscience Research Institute, was recognized by the American Psychological Association (APA) with the Early Career Psychopharmacologist Award. The award, given by Division 28 Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse, was presented at the APA’s 130th Annual Conference in Minneapolis, MN, and recognized Dr. Neuwirth for his work on developing new preclinical pharmacological treatments addressing issues posed by lead poisoning.
At the national conference, Dr. Neuwirth presented an address covering the trajectory of his work titled “Ameliorating Lead Exposures That Cause Neurodevelopmental Disorders: Preclinical Insights Between The GABA-shift and Taurine Psychopharmacology.”
Dr. Neuwirth’s line of preclinical research focuses on understanding how lead exposure disrupts the brain in early development when it is establishing proper circuitry and balancing excitability (i.e., the GABA-shift), how it causes sex-dependent differences in fronto-executive functions, and how these problems can be reduced substantially by taurine treatments.
In collaboration with Dr. Bright Emenike of the Chemistry & Physics Department, Dr. Neuwirth has patented their psychopharmacological treatments for ameliorating lead poisoning through taurine and its derivatives. Drs. Neuwirth’s and Emenike’s current work seeks to identify specific taurine derivatives as treatments for sex-specific and developmental time-period dependent (i.e., gestational, perinatal, and early postnatal) neurobiological deficits induced by lead poisoning. Ultimately, their work could lead to a clinical trial to see how the taurine-specific therapy may help protect children’s brains that have been diagnosed with lead poisoning.
The APA Div. 28 Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse honors an early career scientist conducting original, meritorious work in psychopharmacology that encourages excellence in research at the interface between the disciplines of pharmacology and psychology each year.