Award: Dr. Lena Palaniyappan recognized internationally as a Rising Star

Congratulations to Dr. Lena Palaniyappan who was awarded the Rising Star Award from the Schizophrenia International Research Society (SIRS).

Dr. Palaniyappan is an associate professor in the Departments of Medical Biophysics and Psychiatry and a Scientist at Robarts Research Institute. He is a clinician-scientist with a training background in psychology, neuroimaging and systems approach in neuroscience.

He trained as a physician and psychiatrist in India and the UK and a currently serves as the Director of the Prevention and Early Intervention Program for Psychosis at the London Health Sciences Centre.

The major emphasis of his current work is on applying brain imaging to investigate symptom burden, treatment response and prognostic accuracy both in psychotic and affective disorders. The clinical goal of this approach is to understand the pathways that lead to poor long-term outcome in certain individuals with serious mental disorders. To this end, his group concentrates on understanding the intrinsically organized, largescale brain networks in psychosis.

He was presented with his award at the 2018 SIRS Biennial Conference in Florence, Italy, on April 4, 2018.