ASCI / Young Physician-Scientist Awards, 2020
The Young Physician-Scientist Awards (YPSA) recognize physician-scientists who are early in their first faculty appointment and have made notable achievements in their research.
About the awardee
Alan S. Lewis, MD, PhD, completed his undergraduate degree in Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania in 2005. He then received his MD and PhD at Northwestern University as part of the Medical Scientist Training Program, where his doctorate research studied trafficking mechanisms of neuronal voltage-gated ion channels in the lab of Dr. Dane Chetkovich. He subsequently undertook residency training in psychiatry at Yale University in the Neuroscience Research Training Program. While at Yale he conducted postdoctoral research with Dr. Marina Picciotto, studying nicotinic receptor regulation of aggressive behavior in mouse models, supported in part by a fellowship from Autism Speaks. After joining the faculty at Yale as an Instructor, he moved to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in 2018, where he is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He is supported by a K23 career development award from NIMH to continue his study of hippocampal mechanisms of aggression regulation in animal models as well as nicotinic receptor regulation of emotion-based impulsivity. Dr. Lewis is a diplomate of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in General Psychiatry, and in addition to his research efforts, serves as an attending psychiatrist in the Vanderbilt University Hospital Emergency Department.