Jan Kubanek, PhD, an associate professor of psychiatry at WashU Medicine, received the 2026 One Mind Rising Star Award to develop a noninvasive, precision ultrasound tool that can selectively modulate areas deep within the brain associated with depression.
The three-year, $300,000 grant is awarded by One Mind, a global nonprofit that invests in mental health research. Kubanek is one of five early-career scientists selected this year.
Major depression is a leading cause of disability worldwide, affecting nearly 300 million people, and about one in three patients do not respond to existing treatments. Therapies that alter the activity of networks of brain cells hold promise, but progress has been slowed by an incomplete understanding of which networks drive the disorder.
Kubanek’s project uses transcranial focused ultrasound, which sends sound waves through the skull to map and modulate activity deep in the brain without surgery. The approach has the potential to identify the brain circuits and networks involved in an individual’s depressive symptoms. After mapping the relevant brain areas, the long-term goal is then to apply focused ultrasound to the involved circuits to provide a durable therapeutic reset. If successful, this approach would constitute personalized medicine for depression.
In addition to research funding, awardees receive mentorship and leadership training and present their work at One Mind’s annual Science & Innovation Symposium. Since 2005, the Rising Star Awards have supported more than 50 researchers working to advance mental health science through their scientific discovery, innovation and leadership.