Julius Axelrod Prize

Raymond Dingledine, PhD (left), of Emory University and Mark Bear, PhD (right), of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, were awarded the Julius Axelrod Prize in 2023.

The Julius Axelrod Prize, endowed by the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation, honors a scientist with distinguished achievements in the broad field of neuropharmacology (or a related area) and exemplary efforts in mentoring early career scientists.

Recipients receive a $30,000 prize and complimentary registration, transportation (economy air or ground), and two nights hotel accommodations for the SfN annual meeting. The SfN president presents the prize at a lecture at the meeting. In addition, the recipient is invited to give the keynote address for a symposium that is held at the NIMH in the spring of the following year. This annual event is held in honor of Dr. Julius Axelrod to commemorate his monumental contributions to the fields of pharmacology and neuroscience.

Nominations of women scientists are encouraged.

For more information, please review the Awards and Prizes FAQs.

Nomination Criteria & Materials

Nomination Criteria:

• Nominations must be made or endorsed by an SfN member.
• Nominees do not need to be SfN members.
• Self-nomination is not permitted.
• No person may nominate more than one candidate.
• Current SfN officers and councilors are ineligible for nomination.
• Due to the potential conflicts of interest, members of the selection committee may not be the nominees and they cannot serve as nominators nor write letters of recommendation.

Nomination materials include the following:

• One nomination letter, maximum two pages
• Two letters of recommendation from mentees describing how the nominee helped their career, maximum two pages
• Current CV, maximum 10 pages (without publications)
• A list of 12 of the most important publications authored or co-authored by the nominee
• Names and current job positions of up to five scientists trained by the nominee with a brief description of their accomplishments, 2–3 sentences each

Eligibility

Nominees must have demonstrated accomplishments in the field of neuropharmacology or a related area and have shown dedication to mentoring early career scientists.

Past Awardees

• 2024: Robert Edwards, MD, and Marian Joëls, PhD
• 2023: Mark Bear, PhD and Raymond Dingledine, PhD
• 2022: Marina Wolf, PhD
• 2021: David Ginty, PhD
• 2020: Morgan Sheng, MBBS, PhD
• 2019: Huda Akil, PhD
• 2018: Stephen Waxman, MD
• 2017: Moses V. Chao, PhD
• 2016: Robert Malenka, MD, PhD
• 2015: Pietro V. De Camilli, MD
• 2014: Susan G. Amara, PhD
• 2013: Joseph T. Coyle, MD
• 2012: Richard W. Tsien, D.Phil
• 2011: Roger Nicoll, MD
• 2010: Stephen Heinemann, PhD
• 2009: Michael Greenberg, PhD
• 2008: Leslie Iversen, PhD
• 2007: Richard Huganir, PhD; David Julius, PhD