One Mind Grants $1.5M to Rising Star Mental Health Researchers in Advance of 31st One Mind Music Festival (Ft. Train)
FESTIVAL INFORMATION:
Aug 5, 2025, Napa Valley, CA –The 31st One Mind Music Festival on September 13, 2025, will be hosted at Staglin Family Vineyard in Rutherford, CA. The day-long festival, presented by Bank of America and Bristol Myers Squibb, offers a unique blend of world-class wine tasting, culinary excellence, and groundbreaking science, all set against the stunning backdrop of Napa Valley.
The One Mind Music Festival benefits One Mind and its mission to harness the power of science and lived experience to improve mental health outcomes for individuals, families, and society. Over the last three decades, One Mind has raised more than $600 million – with over $120 million of direct funding and over $480 million in follow-on grants – positively impacting the lives of 30 million people worldwide. Learn more and get your tickets today at www.music-festival.org.
The day will begin with an insightful Science & Innovation Symposium, presented by Kaiser Permanente, followed by a world-class wine tasting reception featuring over 70 premier California vintners, paired with gourmet bites provided by Chef Dustin Valette of Valette Restaurant in Healdsburg. This year’s concert performance, presented by JaM Cellars, will feature multi-GRAMMY award-winning rock band Train (”Drops of Jupiter,” “Meet Virginia,” “Drive By,” and “Hey, Soul Sister”). The evening will conclude with a 4-course VIP dinner under the stars, curated by Chef Angelo Auriana, of The Factory Kitchen and BRERA Ristorante, and paired with Staglin Family Vineyard wines.
“We are excited to partner with One Mind again this year to further the science and accelerate the development of breakthrough medicines for people living with serious mental health conditions,” said Laura Gault, Senior Vice President, Neuroscience Drug Development at Bristol Myers Squibb. “Many of these serious mental health conditions can be misdiagnosed and we are committed to ensuring that all people in the community are appropriately evaluated and treated.”
“Partnering with the One Mind Music Festival is a meaningful way for us to give back to our community while supporting a cause that matters deeply—advancing mental health,” said John Anthony Truchard, Founder and CEO of JaM Cellars. “We’re proud to return as concert sponsor and bring the JaM Cellars Stage to life with Train headlining this year’s show. Great wine and great music have the power to bring people together, and there’s no better setting for it than here in Napa Valley.”
AWARDS INFORMATION:
One Mind™ is proud to announce the recipients of the 2025 One Mind Rising Star Awards. This year, five visionary early-career scientists have been selected to receive a $300,000 research grant over three years, alongside leadership training through the One Mind Rising Star Leadership Program. A core component of the One Mind Rising Star Academy, the One Mind Rising Star Awards invest in innovative researchers in neuroscience, psychiatry, and related fields, who are pursuing projects aimed at advancing our understanding, treatment, and prevention of mental health conditions. Selected through a rigorous grants process by One Mind’s Scientific Advisory Board—composed of twelve of the world’s leading scientists and clinicians—and the One Mind Lived Experience Council, these awardees represent the future of mental health research.
The 2025 Rising Star Awardees will present their One Mind-funded research at the 31st One Mind Music Festival on September 13, 2025, hosted at Staglin Family Vineyard in Rutherford, CA. Presentations will take place during the Science & Innovation Symposium, presented by Kaiser Permanente. The keynote will be given by Regina E. Dugan, PhD, President & CEO of Wellcome Leap, and Susanne Ahmari, MD, PhD, Director of Wellcome Leap’s Multi-Channel Psych Initiative and 2018 One Mind-Janssen Rising Star Award recipient. Alongside the Rising Star Awardees, founders from the One Mind Accelerator and leaders from One Mind at Work will also share their inspiring stories and insights.
“Science sets our foundation and people are at the heart of our work,” said Dr. Kathy Pike, CEO of One Mind. “Thanks to the generous support of like-minded individuals, foundations, families, and business leaders, we’re able to champion the most promising neuroscientists, boldest innovators, and forward-thinking organizations committed to enhancing how we understand mental health and treat mental illness. The Science & Innovation Symposium showcases groundbreaking work that is changing lives. It’s a powerful reminder of what we can achieve when researchers, clinicians, individuals with lived experience, industry leaders, and communities unite around the shared mission to address today’s urgent mental health needs.”
The 2025 Rising Star Awards are made possible by the generous support of Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Bristol Myers Squibb, One Mind’s Board of Directors, as well as another generous donor who wishes to remain anonymous. Their dedication to mental health research empowers visionary scientists to drive groundbreaking discoveries, transforming care and changing lives around the world.
This year’s Rising Star Awardees are:
Laura Berner, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, recipient of the 2025 One Mind Board of Directors Rising Star Award.
- Advancing Brain-Based Treatments for Bulimia Nervosa: For many patients, bulimia nervosa (BN) continues to prove resistant to treatment so new approaches are essential. Dr. Berner’s project targets the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (vlPFC)—a self-regulation center in the brain—using wearable neurofeedback and personalized smartphone interventions. Participants will learn to upregulate vlPFC activity in real time, reinforced during high-risk daily moments. Computational modeling will identify effective strategies, marking the first attempt to bring neurofeedback into patients’ real lives for BN treatment.
Neir Eshel, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, recipient of the 2025 One Mind-Burroughs Wellcome Fund Rising Star Award.
- Uncovering How Brain Circuits Drive Motivation: Why do everyday tasks feel overwhelming in depression? Dr. Eshel’s work uncovers how the brain assigns value to effort, focusing on dopamine signals in the nucleus accumbens. His lab discovered that dopamine increases with effort expenditure, regardless of reward—a “sunk cost” signal that may drive persistence. He now maps how this system operates and breaks down under chronic stress, using mouse models and neural recordings. This research targets motivation circuits, identifying new intervention points for treating anhedonia and depression.
Annegret Falkner, PhD, Assistant Professor, Princeton Neuroscience Institute, Princeton University, recipient of the 2025 One Mind Rising Star Award.
- Developing Hormone-based Therapies for Mood Disorders: Mood disorders such as anxiety and depression are closely tied to instability in cognitive and emotional regulation, particularly during hormonal transitions. Women face increased vulnerability during menstruation, postpartum, and menopause, while hormonal shifts in men also impact mood. Dr. Falkner’s project investigates how sudden drops in estrogen affect neural stability using a novel biomarker—“neural state flipping.” Her lab will also explore targeted estrogen receptor overexpression in specific brain circuits, aiming to reduce mood symptoms and stabilize transitions. This work lays the foundation for precision hormone therapies without systemic side effects.
Andrew Moses Lee, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Psychiatry UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences, University of California, San Francisco, recipient of the 2025 One Mind-Burroughs Wellcome Fund Rising Star Award.
- Neuromodulation to Treat OCD: OCD is a severe condition marked by intrusive thoughts and compulsions. While Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) can help, only ~60% respond. Dr. Lee’s project enhances DBS through closed-loop technology: identifying neural biomarkers that reflect dysregulated brain circuits and adapting stimulation in real-time using Medtronic Percept devices. Early data from a personalized DBS trial at UCSF are promising, aiming for safer, more targeted treatment.
Edward Twomey, PhD, Assistant Professor, Biophysics and Biophysical Chemistry, Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University, recipient of the 2025 One Mind-Bristol Myers Squibb Rising Star Award.
- Investigating a Novel Target to Treat Psychiatric Disorders: The glutamate receptor delta-1 (GluD1), encoded by GRID1, is strongly linked to psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and depression. Once thought to be a non-functional synaptic organizer, Dr. Twomey’s lab discovered that GluD1 is a ligand-gated ion channel. His project will define GluD1’s structure and function, analyze disease-linked mutations, and develop drugs targeting this newly identified mechanism. This work repositions GluD1 as a druggable target, transforming psychiatric therapeutics.
For more information on our partnership opportunities, please contact Tal Gerzon at tal.gerzon@onemind.org, or visit www.onemind.org/contact.
About One Mind™
One Mind is at the forefront of a transformative movement in mental health, delivering innovative solutions to address critical gaps in mental health research, care, workplace wellness, and public perception. Guided by science and lived experience, we fund groundbreaking research, accelerate innovation, enhance workplace wellness, and engage the public to reshape mental health care and awareness. With science as our cornerstone, and people at the heart of what we do, our programs are setting new standards for effective interventions and redefining the future of mental health.
Media Contact:
Jamie Deuell
Director of Digital Marketing & Social Impact, One Mind
jamie.deuell@onemind.org