One Mind’s Rising Star Awards Celebrates 20 Years of Funding Innovative Mental Health Research

One Mind seeks applications for the 20th annual Rising Star Awards program, granting $300,000 to support high-risk, high-reward neuroscience and mental health research

RUTHERFORD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--One Mind is now actively accepting applications for the 2025 One Mind Rising Star Awards program. Since its founding, One Mind has supported the curiosity and drive of the most promising early career scientists, enabling stunning breakthroughs and launching their careers as leaders. In 2005, One Mind formalized this strategy, launching the Rising Star Awards program with the fundamental belief that investing in world-class early-career investigators pursuing innovative, high-risk, high-reward research would accelerate breakthroughs in mental health conditions and psychiatric disorders. This year, in celebration of its 20th anniversary, One Mind will award at least three Rising Star Awards, each providing a $300,000 research grant ($100,000 per year for three years).

Over the last two decades, One Mind has awarded over $13 million to 48 Rising Star Awardees pushing the frontiers of mental health science through their research and leadership. Among our 48 Awardees are such luminaries as:

• Joshua Gordon, MD, PhD: 2010 Awardee; Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University and Former NIMH Director (2017 – 2024); One Mind Funded Research Project: Investigating the Circuit Basis for Psychiatric Diseases (Columbia University).
• Susanne Ahmari, MD, PhD: 2018 Awardee; Director of Wellcome Leap’s $50M Multi-Channel Psych Initiative for depression research; Associate Professor of Psychiatry at University of Pittsburgh. One Mind Funded Research Project: Identify Novel Molecular Targets for OCD (University of Pittsburgh).
• Maryam Shanechi, MD, PhD: 2022 Awardee; Founding Director, USC Center for Neurotechnology, and Full Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Neuroscience, Computer Science, and Biomedical Engineering at USC; One Mind Funded Research Project: Deep Learning of Brain Network Biomarkers for Neuropsychiatric Disorders (University of Southern California).

One Mind is honored to continue this tradition of supporting great science that is already making an impact on the lives of many. As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, One Mind receives generous philanthropic support from private donors, foundations, and corporate sponsors who make the One Mind Rising Star Awards possible. This year, with generous support from Bristol Myers Squibb and Burroughs Wellcome Fund, one awardee will receive the “One Mind Bristol Myers Squibb Rising Star Award” and two awardees will receive the “One Mind Burroughs Wellcome Fund Rising Star Award.”

In addition to the $300,000 research grant, this year’s Awardees will gain exclusive access to the Rising Leaders Lab, a program designed to equip them with the skills, network, and opportunities to drive meaningful impact in neuroscience research and mental health. Through leadership training, networking, and executive coaching, they will develop expertise in media engagement, negotiation, communication, personal branding, and impactful leadership. Workshops, webinars, and one-on-one mentorship with subject-matter experts will further empower them to become thought leaders shaping the future of mental health.

The 2025 One Mind Rising Star Awards will support grant proposals spanning basic/preclinical, translational, and clinical research for psychiatric disorders. These include, but are not limited to, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, and suicidality. Transdiagnostic investigations and research that bring us closer to precision psychiatry will be given special attention. Illustrative examples include metabolomics biomarkers, gut microbiome-brain interactions, psychedelics, closed-loop neurostimulation, (AI/ML)-based biomarkers, and predictive analytics-based models for evaluating risk or treatment efficacy.

Awardees will be selected through a rigorous evaluation process based on the scientific rigor, potential for impact, relevance, feasibility, and innovation of the proposed project, as well as the candidate’s credentials, research productivity, and leadership potential.

Applications are now open! For more information, and to apply, visit our website at onemind.org/rising-star-awards. If you are interested in supporting an award, please contact One Mind Chief Development Officer, Tal Gerzon, at [e-mail].

About One Mind™

One Mind is at the forefront of a transformative movement in mental health, delivering innovative solutions to address critical gaps in mental health research, care, workplace wellness, and public perception. Guided by science and lived experience, we fund groundbreaking research, accelerate innovation, enhance workplace wellness, and engage the public to reshape mental health care and awareness. With science as our cornerstone, and people at the heart of what we do, our programs are setting new standards for effective interventions and redefining the future of mental health.