Fani Koukouli receives the 2017 Unafam Biomedical Science Research Award

The French National Union of Families and Friends of Mentally Ill and/or Disabled People (Unafam) is a state-approved charity that was set up in 1963 to provide help, support, guidance, training, information and assistance to the families and friends of people living with mental health issues. It has more than 14,000 members.

As part of its efforts to respond to the concerns of families hoping for new therapeutic possibilities, Unafam is also committed to supporting research into mental illness. It has launched a Biomedical Science Research Award for research into mental disorders in adolescents and/or adults, which recognizes innovative research in the following fields: the etiology of psychopathologies and developmental trajectories, prevention and therapy for psychosocial risks, biomedical therapy, components of mental disabilities and how they can be analyzed, and the situation of family members (consumers, family members and the role of the caregiver).

This year, Unafam awarded two prizes, each worth €5,000, to two young researchers in biomedical or human and social sciences, either state employees or post-doctoral fellows, who completed their PhD no more than 10 years ago and are hoping to continue their research career in France.

One of the 2017 prizes went to Fani Koukouli, a post-doctoral fellow in the Integrative Neurobiology of Cholinergic Systems Unit, for her research revealing the genetic vulnerability of people with schizophrenia and suggesting new therapeutic targets for the treatment of psychiatric disorders.

The award was presented on June 9 at a ceremony at the French Ministry of Health attended by the Minister for Solidarity and Health, Agnès Buzyn, and Sophie Cluzel, Junior Minister for Disabled People.