2002 Recipient:
Barry D. Lebowitz, Ph.D.

Barry D. Lebowitz, Ph.D. is the first recipient of the newly named M. Powell Lawton Award. He is the Chief of Adult and Geriatric Treatment and Preventive Interventions Research at the National Institute of Mental Health. His peers selected him to receive the award because he upholds Dr. Lawton's values in aging research, and because of his mentorship of young scientists.

Dr. Lebowitz joined NIMH 25 years ago, serving first as head of the research program for Studies of the Mental Health of the Aging, then as Deputy Chief and Chief of the Mental Disorders of the Aging Research Branch. He and his program at NIMH are largely responsible for enabling the impressive growth of knowledge in caregiver-related issues in the 1980s and in late-life depression in the 1990s. The program has also contributed knowledge in other areas including Alzheimer's disease research and the care of older patients with serious mental illness.