The Douglas Research Centre is pleased to announce that Dr. Reza Rahimian, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Naguib Mechawar’s laboratory, is among the recipients of the 2025 Young Investigator Award from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (BBRF).
This award recognizes outstanding early-career scientists whose work significantly advances our understanding of mental health.
The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (BBRF) today announced the 2025 class of 165 Young Investigator grantees, providing $11.4 million in two-year seed funding to early-career scientists pursuing innovative basic, translational, and clinical studies in brain and behavior disorders.
“BBRF Young Investigators represent a new generation of researchers who will pioneer breakthroughs in mental health research. They are at the cutting edge of progress in brain and psychiatric research. We are proud to be able to support the work of these young scientists who will apply powerful new technologies and insights to understanding, treating, and curing mental illness.”
— Jeffrey Borenstein, M.D.
President & CEO of the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation
Dr. Rahimian’s project, titled “Molecular characterization of the choroid plexus in depressed suicide subjects with and without a history of child abuse,” aims to better understand molecular alterations in the choroid plexus of individuals who died by suicide and suffered from depression, while considering the impact of early-life trauma. This research could help identify new biological targets for the prevention and treatment of depressive disorders.
He notes that there is a life-course association between childhood adversity and elevated peripheral inflammatory markers in adulthood, suggesting inflammation as a possible mediator linking adverse experiences in early life to psychopathology in adulthood. The choroid plexus (CP), a highly vascularized tissue that produces cerebrospinal fluid, is an interface between peripheral and central immune responses that participates in regulating neurogenesis, inflammatory signals, and plasticity. It is among the least studied structures in psychiatric conditions, particularly in depression.
His project investigates the cellular and molecular profiles of the CP of the lateral ventricle in postmortem samples from age- and sex-matched depressed suicide victims with and without a history of childhood abuse, and psychiatrically healthy controls (3 groups; n=32 per group, with at least 50% of subjects female). The goal is to expand what is known about depression pathology in suicide subjects who were exposed to severe childhood adversity.
“These early-career scientists are pushing the boundaries of basic and clinical research to develop earlier prediction and prevention strategies and next-generation treatments.”
— Judith M. Ford, Ph.D.
President of BBRF’s Scientific Council
Co-Chair of the Young Investigator Grant Selection Committee
Congratulations, Dr. Rahimian!