May 11, 2015

Brian O'Roak, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular and medical genetics in the OHSU School of Medicine, is one of three scientists selected to receive the International Society for Autism Research's 2015 Young Investigator Award.

The society gives Young Investigator Awards to the best biological and clinical empirical research papers published or in press in 2014, by an investigator who has been awarded their Ph.D. or M.D. in the past seven years. These awards provide a stipend of $1,500 each. Dr. O'Roak will receive the award at the society's annual meeting May 13-16.

Dr. O'Roak's accomplishments include groundbreaking research into the genetic basis of neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. Dr. O'Roak and fellow researchers pioneered a family-based genome-sequencing model that has begun unraveling the genetic mystery of autism. Read about the study, published in the journal, Nature, and a related study published in Nature Communications.

In February 2015, Dr. O'Roak was awarded a prestigious Sloan Research Fellowship.