James M. Gold, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry Director of the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Program at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center (MPRC), and Editor-in-Chief of Schizophrenia Bulletin, has been selected to receive the Joseph Zubin Award handed out annually by the Society for Research in Psychopathology (SRP).

Dr. Gold was recognized during the SRP’s annual meeting for a distinguished career in cognitive neuroscience that has fundamentally advanced understanding of schizophrenia, particularly the cognitive and motivational impairments that contribute to disability and poor functional outcomes.

For more than three decades, Dr. Gold’s research has helped define the nature of cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia. His work has moved the field beyond viewing cognition as a single, generalized deficit by identifying specific impairments in attention, working memory, learning, decision-making, and cognitive control, while also demonstrating that important cognitive processes remain relatively intact. These findings have provided a more precise understanding of how schizophrenia affects information processing and have helped identify potential targets for treatment development.

Dr. Gold has also made major contributions to understanding reward processing, reinforcement learning, effort-based decision-making, and motivation in schizophrenia. This work has helped clarify the cognitive and neural mechanisms underlying negative symptoms, including diminished motivation and goal-directed behavior, which remain among the most challenging aspects of schizophrenia to treat.

By integrating experimental psychology, neuropsychology, cognitive neuroscience, and advance computational approaches, Dr. Gold’s research has helped bridge basic cognitive science and clinical psychiatry. His studies have influenced how investigators conceptualize cognitive impairment in schizophrenia, how these deficits are measured in clinical research, and how novel treatments designed to improve cognition and functioning are evaluated.

“Jim Gold’s work has transformed our understanding of cognition in schizophrenia,” said Deanna L. Kelly, PharmD, BCPP, Director of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center and the Dr. William and Carol Carpenter Professor of Psychiatry for Mental Illness Research at UMSOM. “His research has shown that the cognitive difficulties experienced by people with schizophrenia are much more nuanced than once believed and he has identified specific mechanisms that we can now begin to target therapeutically.”

Dr. Gold played an important role in national efforts to establish cognition as a central therapeutic target in schizophrenia and to develop reliable methods for measuring cognitive change in clinical trials. His work contributed to a broader shift in schizophrenia research toward understanding cognitive impairment as a core feature of the illness that is strongly associated with everyday functioning and long-term outcomes. His leadership as Editor-in-Chief of Schizophrenia Bulletin, one of the leading journals in the field, further reflects his longstanding influence on the direction and advancement of schizophrenia research.

His laboratory at the MPRC has also served as an important training environment for young investigators in cognitive neuroscience and schizophrenia research. Over the course of his career, Dr. Gold has mentored numerous students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty members who have gone on to contribute to the field.

“Working closely with Jim is one of the most enjoyable and meaningful parts of my professional life. He approaches science from a curious, sympathetic, and careful lens. This involves identifying clinically meaningful questions, choosing the best methods to answer them, and constantly questioning his own results. He really is the embodiment of what I view an experimental clinical psychologist to be. Jim fosters a similar approach in his mentees. I can honestly think of no one better to receive this award. It is utterly deserved,” said Adam Culbreth, PhD, Assistant Professor at MPRC and Dr. Gold’s former postdoctoral fellow and mentee.

The Joseph Zubin Award recognizes lifetime contributions to the understanding of psychopathology and honors scientists whose body of work has had a sustained influence on the field.

“I am deeply honored to receive the Joseph Zubin Award,” said Dr. Gold. “The progress we have made in understanding cognition in schizophrenia has come from bringing together ideas and methods from many disciplines and, most importantly, from collaborations with extraordinary colleagues, trainees, research staff, and study participants. I have been tremendously fortunate to pursue this work at the MPRC, where understanding the mechanisms of schizophrenia and translating that knowledge into better treatments has always been central to our mission.”