Tufts Neuroscientist Selected for Innovative Research Grant

Jamie Maguire, PhD, Kenneth and JoAnn G Wellner Professor of Neuroscience at Tufts University School of Medicine, has been awarded a 2026 Distinguished Investigator Grant from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, supporting her work to develop a new approach to treating psychiatric illness.

Dr. Maguire is one of 10 senior scientists selected to receive the highly competitive award, which provides $100,000 in funding for one year of research. The grants are designed to advance innovative studies addressing major mental health challenges, including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Her project addresses a central challenge in psychiatry: treatment resistance in depression. More than 30 percent of patients do not respond to existing therapies, which often fall into similar drug classes and do not target underlying biological mechanisms.

In search of a new evidence-based target, Maguire’s research focuses on impaired neurosteroid synthesis, which has been implicated in numerous psychiatric illnesses. Her team has developed a potential treatment that enhances the synthesis of these endogenous compounds, known for their anxiolytic and antidepressant effects.

Having already identified promising small molecules, the team will use the award to take next steps toward developing a treatment with transdiagnostic potential across psychiatric disorders.

Learn more about the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation’s Distinguished Investigator Grants.