Dr. Pearlson is currently Professor of Psychiatry & Neuroscience at Yale University Medical School, founding director of the Olin Neuropsychiatry Research Center (www.NRC-IOL.org) at the Institute of Living (IOL)/Hartford Hospital in Hartford CT and IOL Research Director. Dr. Pearlson’s research uses neuroimaging as a tool to address a broad array of questions regarding the neurobiology of major mental disorders, primarily psychosis (e.g. the NIMH-funded B-SNIP Consortium) and drug abuse (primarily alcohol & marijuana). He has received an NIMH MERIT award, a NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Award, the Ziskind-Sommerfeld Research Award from the Society of Biological Psychiatry, the Stanley Dean Award in Schizophrenia Research from the American College of Psychiatry, is a member of the Johns Hopkins Society of Scholars (for distinguished alumni) and was awarded the Albert M. Biele Lectureship from Jefferson Medical College, a Michael Visiting Professorship from the Weizmann Institute & is on the editorial board of several neuroimaging in psychiatric journals. He has published over 650 peer-reviewed research articles.He is also co-founder of the annual BrainDance Competition, which is open to high school and college students across New England. The BrainDance Awards encourage students to gain knowledge about psychiatric diseases and to develop a more tolerant and realistic perspective toward people with severe psychiatric problems.