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Barbara A. Cornblatt is a professor of psychiatry and molecular medicine at Hofstra Northwell School of Medicine. Cornblatt is known for research on the treatment and cause of serious mental illness, with a specific focus on Psychosis and Schizophrenia. Her focus is on finding treatments to help the youth with mental illnesses led to the development of the Recognition and Prevention Program, which she founded in 1998. In 1996 she was the recipient of the Joseph Zubin Award.

Biography
Dr. Cornblatt received her B.S. degree in Industrial Psychology at Baruch College, CUNY, New York, NY. She went to graduate school at New School University, New York, NY where she obtained her Ph.D in Experimental Psychology.

Research
Towards a Psychosis Risk Blood Diagnostic for Persons Experiencing High-Risk Symptoms: In this study, the researchers looked at different analytes found in human plasma. These plasma analytes reflected inflammation, oxidative stress, hormones, and metabolism. It was discovered that individuals who are at a high-risk for psychosis have high levels of inflammation, oxidative stress, and hormone imbalances. This information, if proven in other studies, can have a medical utility using blood as the assay.

Functional development in clinical high risk youth: Prediction of schizophrenia versus other psychotic disorders: These study was a follow up study involving participants from the NAPLS-1 study (described above). Researchers checked for three different signs in their patients: psychosis-risk symptoms present at baseline (these plasma analytes reflected inflammation, oxidative stress, hormones, and metabolism), onset of psychosis during the two and a half-year follow-along period of NAPLS-1, and psychotic disorder diagnosis from the DSM. The study showed that people in early adolescence who showed poor social indicators were four times as likely to develop schizophrenia. Those in their late adolescence with poor social indicators were five times as likely to develop schizophrenia.

Cortisol Level and Risk for Psychosis: Researchers tested the cortisol contents of saliva in 256 individuals. It was discovered that patients that were at a higher risk of Psychosis, or already had the diagnosis, had increased cortisol levels. This study suggests the need for future research focusing on the hormone levels of individuals with, or at risk of, Psychosis.