Anthony A. Grace Named Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience at Pitt

Anthony A. Grace

School of Arts and Sciences faculty member Anthony A. Grace has been named Distinguished Professor of Neuroscience. Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg made the appointment, which took effect at the start of this month.

The rank of Distinguished Professor recognizes extraordinary, internationally recognized scholarly attainment in an individual discipline or field.

A professor of neuroscience, psychiatry, and psychology, Grace serves on Pitt’s Center for Neuroscience’s Executive and Faculty Admissions committees and on the MD and PhD Degree Supervisory Committee.

Grace has been involved for more than 30 years in translational research related to the limbic system and schizophrenia. His early work pioneered the identification and characterization of dopamine-containing neurons. Grace’s most recent work involves examining the interactions of several brain regions with known involvement in psychiatric disorders and drug abuse and determining how these interactions are disrupted by stress.  He has used the methylazoxymethanol acetate (MAM) developmental model of schizophrenia, which was developed in his lab. Employing this model, his lab has now advanced GABAergic drugs that may be effective in the treatment of schizophrenia.

Grace served on the Schizophrenia International Research Society Board of Directors and the Schizophrenia Research Forum Scientific Advisory Board in 2005; he currently serves on the council of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. In 2008, he received the CINP-Lilly Neuroscience Basic Research Award for his research into the biological bases of psychiatric disorders. The award is presented by the Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum and pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly to a researcher younger than age 55 who has made significant contributions to the understanding of the nervous system.

Grace earned his undergraduate degree in psychology and biology from Allegheny College and his PhD degree in pharmacology from Yale University.