October 6, 2003

BIRMINGHAM, AL — David Weiss, Ph.D., professor of neurobiology in the School of Medicine at UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham) has been selected to receive a Senator Jacob Javits Award in the Neurosciences by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The award is for $2.4 million over seven years to carry out fundamental studies on the dynamics of the GABA receptor, the brain’s major molecular detector for restraining or inhibiting electrical activity.

The prestigious Javits Investigator Awards were established by the U.S. Congress in 1983 to honor the late Senator Jacob Javits, who suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a degenerative neurological disorder also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Javits was a champion of research into a wide variety of disorders of the brain. The awards are intended to recognize and support the research of distinguished investigators who are expected to be highly productive over the next seven years.

Weiss pioneered the use of laboratory techniques to allow for molecular manipulation of the brain’s GABA receptors, as well as visualization of the dynamics of GABA receptors interacting with chemical signals from neighboring nerve cells in the brain. This work forms the basis for extending the understanding of a number of aspects of brain function where the process of chemical inhibition in the brain is essential.

The GABA receptor plays in role in such actions as preventing epileptic seizures. Anxiety and rage can occur due to ineffective function of the GABA inhibition system and the effects of alcohol and actions of sedatives target the GABA system.

“Weiss’ research into GABA’s interactions within the brain has led to the development of new ways of tracking those processes in the living system in order to provide a precise view of the GABA receptor in action,” says Michael Friedlander, Ph.D., chair of the department of neurobiology. “It is for these breakthroughs and the promise of important discoveries to come from his program that the NIH has made this prestigious award to Dr. Weiss.”

Weiss received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from Baylor College of Medicine in 1987 and carried out a postdoctoral fellowship in physiology and biophysics at the University of Miami School of Medicine. He served on the faculty of the University of South Florida before joining UAB in 1995.