A neuroscientist looks to reengineer the brain to treat mental illness

Kafui Dzirasa has two goals: rewire brain signals to treat mental illness and expand opportunity for scientists of color.

January 13, 2025 Check out STAT+

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Justin Cook for STAT 'My life's purpose': A neuroscientist wants to rewire mental illness treatment and remake the field he loves Kafui Dzirasa has two goals: reengineer brain signals to treat mental illness and expand opportunity for scientists of color By Usha Lee McFarling STAT+ | Cigna, Centene, Walgreens drop out of J.P. Morgan conference Roughly a dozen companies that appeared on the initial JPM agenda appear to have dropped out of the conference. By Bob Herman STAT+ | GSK to buy cancer-focused IDRx in $1 billion deal GSK, which has been building up its cancer business, will get an experimental drug for a rare cancer known as GIST. By Andrew Joseph STAT STAT+ | Eli Lilly scientific chief Skovronsky says Scorpion deal 'checked all the boxes' In JPM news, the drugmaker will buy the startup and then spin it back out, but keep one of its cancer therapies, STX-478. By Matthew Herper STAT+ | J&J to buy Intra-Cellular Therapies for $14.6B, picking up mental health drug The purchase will give J&J an approved mental health drug and Intra-Cellular's pipeline of neuropsychiatric medicines. By Andrew Joseph STAT+ | Cytokinetics is not looking to be acquired, CEO says On the sidelines of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Robert Blum says the company will nonetheless take any offers seriously. By Adam Feuerstein Adobe Opinion: The information vacuum around allergies and asthma in Asian American children The unfolding story of allergy disparities within Asian American subgroups is being played out in other areas of medicine. By Charles Feng, Latha Palaniappan, and Anna Chen Arroyo

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