Meeting Awards

Meeting Awards 

PNIRS is pleased to announce the Michael Irwin Travel Awards, made possible through a generous donation from Professor Michael Irwin, Cousins Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience.

Travel awards will help offset the cost of attending the PNIRS Annual Meeting. Eligible applicants must submit an abstract, register for the meeting, and attend the current year’s conference. In addition to travel support, awardees will be paired with experienced PNIRS members who will serve as meeting guides to help foster professional development and engagement in the Society.

Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must be students, postdoctoral fellows, or early-career researchers who have not previously received this award. All applicants must submit an abstract to the PNIRS Annual Meeting, register for the meeting, and attend in person.

PNIRS Trainee Scholar Travel Awards

The intent of the PNIRS Trainee Scholar Travel Awards is to facilitate attendance by trainee members at the PNIRS Annual Meeting.  To be eligible for an award, awardees must be a PNIRS trainee member, register for the Annual Meeting, submit an abstract and attend the PNIRS Annual Meeting for the current year. Awardees will be selected by the Scientific Affairs Committee using the abstract scoring process as a guide.  Awards will vary annually and are to be used to contribute to the trainees' cost of attendance at the PNIRS Annual Meeting.  

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Norman Cousins Award

The Norman Cousins Award is the highest honor given by the PsychoNeuroImmunology Research Society to an individual for outstanding contributions to research in psychoneuroimmunology. Norman Cousins was an articulate spokesman and advocate for Psychoneuroimmunology, whose support and generosity has facilitated the career development of many investigators in this interdisciplinary field of endeavor. To contribute to the advancement of knowledge in psychoneuroimmunology, Ellen Cousins, Norman’s wife, created the Norman Cousins Memorial Fund, and the California Wellness Foundation provided the endowment for the Norman Cousins Memorial Award and Lecture to be delivered as a highlight of the annual meeting of the PsychoNeuroImmunology Research Society.

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Robert Ader New Investigator Award

In honor of Dr. Robert Ader, a pioneer in the field of psychoneuroimmunology, the PsychoNeuroImmunology Research Society presents the Robert Ader New Investigator Award. This prestigious award is presented to an outstanding new research scientist who has made exciting basic science or clinical contributions to the field of PNI. The award honors Dr. Ader’s innovation and creativity as a scientist and recognizes his contributions to the instantiation of PNI as a meaningful endeavor dedicated to the betterment of health and the prevention of disease.

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BBI Impact Award

Professor Keith W. Kelley, spouse Sara and daughter Megan established the Brain, Behavior, and Immunity Impact Award. The goal is to promote submission and publication of high-quality, cutting-edge research in Brain, Behavior, and Immunity and to increase visibility and participation in the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society. The winner is the corresponding author of the paper with the most citations from those articles published three and four years prior to the award. For example, the 2019 award winner, announced in 2018, is the corresponding author of the paper that achieved the highest level of citations in 2017 to papers published in 2016 and 2015. The Kelley Family provides an annual gift of $5,000 USD per year and a commemorative plaque for the PNIRS to present to the winner of the Brain, Behavior, and Immunity Impact Award at the Annual PNIRS Meeting.

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