William A. Carlezon, Jr., Ph.D.

ACNP President

Erin Shearon

ACNP Deputy Director

This year's Annual Meeting will be held in a hybrid meeting format allowing members and invited guests to attend in-person at the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort in Nassau, Bahamas or virtually on the ACNP Virtual Meeting Platform. The in-person option will include the classic annual meeting experience. The plenaries, panels, mini-panels, and study groups will not be live streamed this year as they have been in past years but will be recorded with content posted within 48 hours after the session with the presenter's approval.

Important Travel Information

Be advised that a passport valid for at least 6-months after your return date is required for all attendees to travel to the Bahamas. Renewing or getting a new passport in the US can take up to 8 weeks. Please check the expiration date of your passport and plan accordingly.  

We understand there are growing concerns regarding traveling abroad, especially for non-US citizens residing in the US. We encourage all attendees to research the requirements that apply to their citizenship status when traveling abroad and for all attendees to travel with a copy of their registration confirmation as well as an invitation letter (if applicable for non-US Citizens) with any other required immigration documents. Please consult the Bahamas Immigration Website for entry requirements and the USA.gov site for re-entry requirements.  

Requesting Guest Invitations?

ACNP member requests for guest invitations, General Invitation Bank, and Invitation Bank for Scientists from Disadvantaged Backgrounds are now submitted through the online meeting portal.

*The online portal is now open!

• To request an invitation, login to the Annual Meeting Submission Site and select 'Submit ACNP Invitation Request'.
• Invitation requests must be submitted by August 26th in order to ensure your guest has ample time to register and submit a poster prior to the August 28th poster deadline.

*Guest invitations will not be sent until after registration officially opens in late June.

REMINDER FOR ANNUAL MEETING: Member invited guest invitations will be limited to 400. Please review the requirements for the Invitation Bank for Scientists from Disadvantaged Backgrounds and utilize the bank in lieu of your member invitation, when applicable.

What does this mean?

• Members MUST attend the meeting to extend guest invitations.
• Member guest invitations will be capped at 400 requests. As a reminder, Members, Fellows and Emeritus members have one invited guest invitation.
• Member guest invitations will be issued on a first come, first served basis. *Actual invitations will not be extended until registration officially opens in late June.
• In 2023, 413 member invited guest invitations were extended for the 2023 Annual Meeting in Tampa. In 2024, member invited guest invitations reached the cap of 400 in late September for the 2024 Annual Meeting in Phoenix. *Please request your guest invitation early and utilize the invitation banks when applicable.  
• Council has discussed annual meeting growth over the years and in the strategic plans agreed that once the meeting hit 2,000 attendees, Council should develop ways to cap the attendance. This is to keep the ability to meet in one hotel and not have to move to convention centers with multiple hotels.

Click here to read the Annual Meeting Frequently Asked Questions!

The ACNP offers scientists without an invitation the opportunity to attend the annual meeting through our Annual Meeting Invitation Banks. An ACNP member (including Associate Members) must request the invitation for you through one of the following banks:

General Invitation Bank: ACNP offers up to 100 invitations, accessible only by members, for scientists who are within 10 years of their last training or someone with a first time R award or K award. (Members can request only one invitation from this bank. Once the cap of 100 invitations has been reached, no additional invitations can be extended using the General Invitation Bank.  

Invitation Bank for Scientists from Disadvantaged Backgrounds: ACNP offers an unlimited number of invitations, accessible only by members, for scientists from disadvantaged backgrounds. Members who request the invitation will need to verify that the scientist is considered from a disadvantaged background per the criteria below:

ACNP defines an individual to be considered from a disadvantaged background if they meet two or more of the following criteria:

• Were or currently are homeless
• Were or currently are in the foster care system
• Were eligible for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program for two or more years
• Have/had no parents or legal guardians who completed a bachelor’s degree
• Were or currently are eligible for Federal Pell grants
• Received support from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) as a parent or child
• Grew up in a rural area or in a low- or middle-income country
• Have/had significant social or physical challenges
• *International Scientists Only* Were considered from a disadvantaged background from your country (if reside outside the U.S.)

ACNP will make every effort to keep this information private but cannot guarantee this information would not be unintentionally released within the College. 

It is time to honor the scientific and mentorship accomplishments of a select few from a very long list of our distinguished members and colleagues. The Honorific Awards Committee, chaired by Helen Mayberg, is requesting nominations for the following

Honorific Awards:

Advocacy Award

Barbara Fish Memorial Award

Daniel H. Efron Research Award

Dolores Shockley Advancement Award

Eva King Killam Research Award

Joel Elkes Research Award

Julius Axelrod Mentorship Award

Media Award

Paul Hoch Distinguished Service Award

Public Service Award

Detailed nomination information is available on the ACNP website under the Annual Meeting tab. The nomination deadline is July 15, 2025. Award recipients will be announced and honored at the annual meeting.

The honorific awards are an important part of the College in honoring colleagues. You may notice that the names of some awards have been modified since last year, but ACNP’s core missions have not changed. The Awards Committee urges you to nominate a deserving colleague!

This election was carried out in accordance with Article VII, Section 3 and Article IX, Section 2 of the ACNP Bylaws, and its results are binding.

Terms for the newly-elected officers will begin at the conclusion of the ACNP Annual Business Meeting on Thursday, January 15, 2026.

Congratulations to the newly elected leadership!

Rita Valentino, Ph.D.

Secretary

2026-2030

David Rubinow, M.D.

Treasurer

2026-2030

2025 Associate Members on Council

Alexander Harris, M.D., Ph.D.

Millie Rincón-Cortés, Ph.D.

• The Diversity & Inclusion Committee is now named the Experience & Resilience Committee.
• The Gender Equity & Inclusion Committee is now named the Empowerment Committee.

Even though their names have changed, their mission remains the same. The commitees will still host their annual events at the annual meeting. Stay tuned closer to the meeting for more details!

Nomination materials and guidelines for new Associate Member, Member, and Fellow promotion candidates will be available under the Membership tab on the ACNP website in June. The submission site will open with an announcement to membership in mid-August. The deadline for nominations and applications will be September 25, 2025. Should you have questions or need assistance, please contact ACNP at acnp@acnp.org.

REMINDER:

New Associate Member and Member nominees must have attended a minimum of one ACNP Annual Meeting prior to applying for membership.

Membership Mentors: Membership Mentors are recent past Membership Committee members who have agreed to counsel prospective membership nominees and/or their nominators on membership application to the College. The members included on this list have agreed to be contacted by applicants and their nominators.



Current Membership Mentors

2025 New Associate Members

The College would like to highlight the new 2025 Associate Member Class!

Stay tuned for the August and November Bulletins to meet our other new Associate Members.

Career Transition Mentoring Network

The Career Transition Mentoring Network is designed to provide a near-peer resource for mid-to senior level researchers during critical career transitions. Members have volunteered to be a near-peer network mentor and serve as a resource for the discussions on the following topics: Promotions, Chair, Dean, Center and Institute Director, Publishing, Industry, Academia-Government, Emeritus-Retirement, among others. You must be logged in to the ACNP Website to view the page. 

The College partnered with the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) to select up to four distinguished young scientists from the 2024 ACNP Travel Award class to participate in SfN's Annual Hill Day event. 2024 Travel Awardees were asked to submit a statement of interest in public service or advocacy, a statement of their experience volunteering in governmental education efforts, advocacy outreach or elections as well as an updated C/V for review by both the chairs of the Education and Training Committee and Liaison Committee.

The following distinguished young scientists from the 2024 Travel Award class attended the virtual Hill Day events on March 11-13, 2025.

What the SfN Hill Day events meant to them!

Participating in SfN's 19th annual Hill Day in March 2025 was an incredible opportunity to advocate for robust support of neuroscience research at the national level. I was honored to represent ACNP and the neuroscience community, speaking about the importance of continued investment in scientific discovery. This experience deepened my appreciation for the intensive efforts of SfN’s advocacy division, from identifying legislative priorities to organizing training and facilitating effective Hill Day meetings. I also had the opportunity to connect with fellow neuroscientists from my state who share a strong commitment to public engagement. Most importantly, this event challenged me to communicate my science clearly and compellingly to broader audiences, a skill that is important for any scientist, now more than ever.

Rodolfo Flores Garcia, Ph.D.

I am so grateful to ACNP and SfN for the opportunity to receive advocacy training and join scientists from around the U.S. as part of SfN Hill Day and Brain Awareness Week. Now more than ever it is critical for scientists to speak out about the value and necessity of research in a productive and meaningful way so that we can all benefit from lifesaving biomedical science funded by the federal government. Recent Executive Orders have threatened critical funding to sustain lifesaving biomedical research in the United States, as well as the educational institutions and hospitals in which this work is conducted. In the midst of chaotic and heartbreaking disruptions to the research enterprise, it felt empowering to use my voice and my expertise to advocate for science with the goal of reversing federal funding freezes, reversing the indirect cost cap, and actually increasing the budgets for federal research agencies like the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

Lana Grasser, Ph.D.

My Hill Day experience was great. Coming from a conservative state with representatives who support cuts to NIH indirects and shrinking of the federal workforce, Hill Day felt particularly relevant and timely. Despite ongoing federal instability and threats to US science and the academy, conversations with my representatives were productive. I had an opportunity to share why neuroscience funding is so critical to my career and the careers of my colleagues, trainees, and community. In the process, I learned more about effective lobbying, and the incredible science advocacy infrastructure that SfN has built. This is an infrastructure that I will encourage others to take advantage of as we fight for the future of academic science in America. 

Serena Gumusoglu, Ph.D., M.Sc.

I was honored to represent the ACNP at the 2025 SfN Hill Day at a critical time for advocacy in science policy. In collaboration with scientists from across the SfN, I met with the offices of members of Congress from California to discuss this year's policy asks, which were 1) to support robust funding to neuroscience research in FY 2026, 2) support stability for the research enterprise and oppose recent changes and proposed changes that have destabilized it, and 3) support the ethical and responsible use of animals in biomedical research. I was assigned to focus on ask 2, and had the opportunity to specifically highlight how the proposed changes to the NIH indirect cost rate had destabilized research efforts, the importance of indirect cost-funded services to science overall, and the negative impacts that staff and service reductions have had both on basic science and clinical research (including the loss of access to clinical trials that some patients have suffered). The offices were very receptive to our input, and it was wonderful to work with colleagues from across the neurosciences to help explain the impact that our research has on society. I very much enjoyed the opportunity and would recommend any other interested colleagues to participate next year!

Karthik Sarma, M.D., Ph.D.

American Brain Coalition Hill Day May 7, 2025

On May 7th, Sara Nixon, Hilary Marusak, Tiffany Love, Jennifer Dwyer, and Sarah Timm joined the American Brain Coalition (ABC) in Washington, D.C., to advocate for continued federal investment in neuroscience research. In morning meetings with lawmakers, they urged Congress to restore funding to $680 million for FY 2026 for the BRAIN Initiative, and authorize a new long-term investment to build on the Initiative’s successes. In the afternoon, they attended ABC’s congressional briefing, “Advancing Neuroscience for Americans: Breakthroughs in Addiction Research Enabled by the NIH BRAIN Initiative”, at the Congressional Visitors Center. The session showcased how BRAIN-funded research is driving progress in understanding and treating addiction and other brain disorders. We’re grateful to ABC for organizing this important day of advocacy and to congressional staff for engaging with us on these critical issues, and to the ACNP for allowing us this unique opportunity. - Hilary Marusak, Ph.D.

ABC Congressional Briefing

The American Brain Coalition, American Academy of Neurology,

American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, Dana Foundation, IEEE Brain,

Simons Foundation, Society for Neuroscience, The Kavli Foundation,

in cooperation with the Congressional Neuroscience Caucus hosted the congressional briefing:

Advancing Neuroscience for Americans:

Breakthroughs in Addiction Research Enabled by the NIH BRAIN Initiative

The innovative tools and technologies emerging from the Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® Initiative, or the BRAIN Initiative®, are driving groundbreaking discoveries across NIH institutes and reinforcing the United States’ leadership in medical research. This congressional briefing highlighted the intersection of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and BRAIN, showcasing key accomplishments, research priorities, and real-world applications that are transforming our understanding of brain function and addiction science for Americans.

Featured a Panel of BRAIN Initiative Experts

John J. Ngai, Ph.D.               

Director

The NIH Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative

Nora Volkow, M.D.

Director

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Edward Mowery

BRAIN Study Participant

Prasad Shirvalkar, M.D., Ph.D.                                                                                        

BRAIN Principal Investigator                                                                 

Associate Professor

University of California, San Francisco                             

Paul J. Kenny, Ph.D.

Director, Drug Discovery Institute

Professor & Chair, Neuroscience Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Academic, Scientific, and Clinical Interdisciplinary Leaders Advocacy Session

If you missed the special session, Strengthen Your Voice ~ Navigating Advocacy Opportunities in the 119th Congress (for Academic, Scientific, and Clinical Interdisciplinary Leaders), you can watch the recording from ABC.

The 10th Annual Biomedical Research Awareness Day was celebrated for a week in April and was a huge success!

With over 310 celebrations around the world (up from last year!), this was the biggest BRAD to date. Individuals and institutions joined to honor the critical role of animals in biomedical research while educating their community and increasing acceptance and understanding of animal research.  

How to apply to be the next ACNP/AMP BRAD Fellow: 

APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN!

The ACNP/AMP BRAD Fellowship presents a fantastic opportunity for early-stage investigators and postdoctoral fellows to highlight the significance of animals in clinical and basic research in the areas of neuroscience, psychology, and pharmacology. By participating in this fellowship, individuals can cultivate their skills in science communication and advocacy while championing the crucial role of animals in biomedical research. You can learn more about the Fellowship, including relevant deadlines and instructions for applying, on the BRAD website. Click here to view the application flyer.

Applications for the 2025-2026 ACNP/AMP-BRAD Fellowship are now open for early-stage investigators and postdoctoral fellows through June 1! Please do not hesitate to reach out to Dr. Logan France (logan@amprogress.org) and current BRAD Fellow Dr. Nakul Aggarwal (naggarwal5@wisc.edu) with any questions.

• June 12, 2025: Finalize Panel, Mini-Panel, Study Group submissions
• June 23, 2025: Near-Peer Mentorship Program Applications
• July 15, 2025: Deadline to submit Honorific Awards
• August 28, 2025: Deadline to submit Poster Abstracts
• September 25, 2024: Deadline to submit new Membership Nominations and Promotions
• January 12-15, 2026: ACNP 64th Annual Meeting, Nassau, Bahamas

Upcoming Meetings:

To see a list of upcoming meetings in the field of neuropsychopharmacology, please click below:

Employment and Grant Opportunities:

To see a list of new employment and grant opportunities in the field of neuropsychopharmacology, please click below:

For a full listing of the ACNP Staff in the Executive Office, click here.

The American College of Psychiatrists acknowledges outstanding contributions to psychiatry made by mental health professionals by presenting several awards, including the following. To learn more about these honors, and to nominate a colleague, please visit the College website at http://www.acpsych.org/awards:

The Disinguished Service in Psychiatry Award - Deadline for 2026 / June 30, 2025 - The Distinguished Service Award recognizes significant achievements and leadership in the field of psychiatry. The Award consists of a gold medallion and a certificate. The recipient receives travel, hotel, and free registration at the Annual Meeting.

The Award for Creativity in Psychiatric Education - Deadline for 2026 / June 30, 2025 - The Award for Creativity in Psychiatric Education recognizes a teaching program that demonstrates innovation in psychiatric education. The Award consists of a $1,000 grant and a certificate. One representative from the program receives travel, hotel, and free registration at the Annual Meeting; a second representative receives free registration.

Honorary Fellows - Deadline for 2027 / June 30, 2025 - The American College of Psychiatrists awards Honorary Fellowships in the College to distinguished professionals who have made significant scientific and clinical contributions to the field of psychiatry but are ineligible for Membership in the College. The Award consists of a $5,000 travel grant, waived registration and complimentary lodging at the meeting hotel. Although Honorary Fellows do not pay dues and are not eligible to hold office or Committee Membership, they are invited to attend all College meetings.   

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