McLean Hospital reports this was a record year for fellowship applications, with 101 proposals received for only seven available positions. Balu, working under the supervision of Dr. Joseph Coyle at Harvard Medical School, is studying schizophrenia, a neurodevelopmental disorder. In work with mice he is seeking to “mitigate deficiencies in adult neuroplasticity” in the hope of determining “future drug targets that will … improve therapeutic outcomes for patients suffering from schizophrenia.”

Darrick T. Balu, PhD, grew up in New York City where he earned his undergraduate and Master’s degrees. After receiving his PhD from the University of Pennsylvania, he was awarded the Division 28: Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse Outstanding Dissertation Award from the American Psychological Association. Dr. Balu joined McLean Hospital as a post-doctoral fellow in 2008, was promoted to instructor in 2012, and to assistant professor in 2014. He is now director of his own laboratory.