Corey Harwell, PhD, professor in the Department of Neurology at the UCSF Broad Stem Cell Center, has been awarded a McKnight Neurobiology of Brain Disorder Award.
The McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience selected four projects to receive the 2026 Neurobiology of Brain Disorders Awards, supporting innovative research by U.S. scientists who are studying neurological and psychiatric diseases. The awards encourage collaboration between basic and clinical neuroscience to translate laboratory discoveries about the brain and nervous system into diagnoses and therapies to improve human health. The awards will total $1.2 million for research on the biology of brain diseases over a three-year period.
Harwell’s project, “How Early Life Stress Shapes the Development of Septal Dopamine Circuits Controlling Fear,” aims to determine how early life stress alters the development of a specific dopamine circuit connecting the ventral tegmental area and lateral septum, two brain regions involved in regulating fear and anxiety-related behaviors.
Anxiety disorders affect millions of people worldwide, and early life stress is one of the strongest risk factors for developing anxiety and trauma-related disorders later in life. Despite this clear link, the mechanisms by which stressful experiences during childhood alter the developing brain remain poorly understood. Emerging evidence suggests that disruptions in dopamine circuits involved in fear, safety learning, and emotional regulation may contribute to long-lasting changes in behavior.
Using advanced genetic, imaging, and behavioral approaches in mice, the Harwell lab will define how stress changes the maturation and activity of this circuit and whether these alterations impair the ability to recognize when danger has passed. Overall, this work could identify new therapeutic targets and developmental windows for treating anxiety and trauma-related disorders.
Multiple awards are given each year. This year’s four awards are:
Juan Du, PhD | Professor, Northwestern University
Temperature as a Missing Dimension in Pain Neurobiology and Therapy
Corey Harwell, PhD | Professor, University of California, San Francisco
How Early Life Stress Shapes the Development of Septal Dopamine Circuits Controlling Fear
Takaki Komiyama, PhD | University of California, San Diego
Rescuing Motor Learning Failure in Aging
Justin Perry, PhD | Associate Member, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Understanding how early-life high fructose exposure suppresses microglia efferocytosis and disrupts neurodevelopment
To learn more about the award, visit: 2026 Neurobiology of Brain Disorders Awards
About the McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience
The McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience is an independent organization funded solely by the McKnight Foundation of Minneapolis, Minnesota, and led by a board that includes prominent neuroscientists from around the country. The McKnight Foundation has supported neuroscience research since 1977. The Foundation established the Endowment Fund in 1986 to carry out one of the intentions of founder William L. McKnight (1887–1978), one of the early leaders of the 3M Company.
In addition to the Neurobiology of Brain Disorders Awards, the endowment fund also provides annual award funding through the McKnight Scholar Awards, supporting neuroscientists in the early stages of their research careers.