NIMH honors SUNY Downstate professor with MERIT award

Apr 7 2012

Todd C. Sacktor, M.D., distinguished professor of physiology and pharmacology and of neurology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, has received a MERIT (Method to Extend Research in Time) award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for his research on memory.

Dr. Sacktor's research, which has been called "paradigm-shifting," has focused on determining the mechanism of long-term memory. He discovered the molecule protein kinase M zeta (PKMzeta) and with colleagues demonstrated that it is essential for memory storage. Using the agent ZIP (zeta inhibitory peptide), which cancels the effect of PKMzeta, he and colleagues showed that the drug erases memory in laboratory animals without harming their ability to learn future memories.

The prestigious MERIT award is offered to a limited number of investigators who have demonstrated superior competence and productivity during their previous research endeavors and who are likely to continue to perform in an outstanding manner in the future. Fewer than five percent of funded National Institutes of Health (NIH) investigators are selected to receive MERIT awards.

Dr. Sacktor's research not only revealed an important component of how memories are processed and stored, but also has broad implications for the possible treatment of memory disorders, such as Alzheimer's disease, as well as chronic pain, dystonia, post-traumatic stress disorder, and phantom limb syndrome. Most recently, Dr. Sacktor and colleagues discovered that PKMzeta can enhance or strengthen old memories. 

The MERIT award program was initiated by the NIH in 1986 and has become a symbol of scientific achievement in the research community. The principal feature of the MERIT award is the opportunity to obtain up to ten years of research support in two segments, an initial MERIT award and a possible MERIT extension, relieving grant awardees of the need to prepare frequent renewal applications. Investigators cannot apply for MERIT awards, but rather are selected by the NIH through an internal review process. Selection of NIMH MERIT awardees is based on nomination by NIMH program staff, with concurrence and favorable recommendation by the National Advisory Mental Health Council.

SOURCE Suny Downstate Medical Center