Patricia and James Poitras founded the Poitras Center for Psychiatric Disorders Research because of their passion for philanthropy and psychiatric research. Through the Center, they support research on depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. James is an MIT alumnus, and the Poitras Center is closely linked with MIT’s McGovern Institute. In 2017 they created the endowed James and Patricia Poitras Professorship of Neuroscience at MIT, with the hope to support basic research and find new treatment options for psychiatric disorders. They also established the Poitras Catalyst Fund in 2018 which focuses on genetic research. In April of 2022, the Poitras Center sponsored the McGovern Institute Spring Symposium: Frontiers in neuropsychiatric disease research, models, and treatment avenues. Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli was an invited speaker, with many lab members presenting posters at this session.
Highlighting some of their reach is the 2019-2021 Poitras Center for Psychiatric Disorders Research Impact Report (slides below, or full screen version here). Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli’s lab is highlighted in this report, and it’s no wonder as both have a strong emphasis on discovering novel treatment options for psychiatric disorders, as current treatment options often rely on trial and error. For a closer look at Whitfield-Gabrieli’s research, including research on adolescents with anxiety and depression, turn to pages 5-8. The report also highlights Whitfield-Gabrieli’s work on the DMN and the role it plays in psychiatric disorders, as well as how it could be leveraged as a target for treatment (pgs 22-23). Check out pages 34-37 for some highlighted publications (or head over to Publications for more of the Whitfield-Gabrieli lab’s work).