Layla Banihashemi receives Paul D. MacLean Award for Outstanding Neuroscience Research in Psychosomatic Medicine
Layla Banihashemi, associate professor of psychiatry and bioengineering at Pitt's School of Medicine and Swanson School of Engineering, has been named the 2026 recipient of the Paul D. MacLean Award from the Society for Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine. This honor recognizes outstanding neuroscience research in psychosomatic medicine, particularly work that advances understanding of how emotion, brain function, and physical health are interconnected.
Banihashemi researches the neural mechanisms linking the brain and body, with a focus on how these systems shape stress reactivity and contribute to affective psychopathology. Her work examines how early-life experiences, particularly childhood adversity, influence central visceral circuits, key pathways that regulate stress responses and play a critical role in mental and physical health.
“I am incredibly honored to receive the MacLean Award from SBSM." Banihashemi said. "I feel deeply grateful to everyone who has made this work possible - to mentors and collaborators who so generously give of their time and expertise, to lab members who dedicate tremendous effort to these studies, and to SBSM for this distinction and providing me with a scientific home."
Banihashemi delivered the MacLean Award Lecture, a plenary talk titled “The ‘Visceral Brain’: Linking Childhood Adversity to Mind-Body Health” at the Society for Biopsychosocial Science and Medicine’s Annual Scientific Meeting in March. The MacLean Award was named after Paul D. MacLean, a visionary physician who emphasized the importance of the brain–body basis of emotion and its relevance for health and behavior. Banihashemi’s research advances this work through translational approaches that bridge preclinical neuroanatomy with human neuroimaging, and she's among a distinguished group of past recipients such as Antonio Damasio, Lisa Feldman Barrett, Helen Mayberg, and Richard Davidson.