For Dr. Gabriel Fries, psychiatry has always been more than a field of study—it is a deeply personal calling. His older brother was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when they were both very young, and watching his brother’s struggles left an indelible mark. “Just being his brother made clear to me the limitations of the treatments that exist,” Fries says. “It shaped my passion for research, which isn’t always an easy career, but it gave me a sense of purpose. It was a way to help, even indirectly.”

Dr. Fabiano Gomes has been interested in the link between physical and mental health since his early years of medical training. “I was struck by how many of my patients were gaining weight, developing diabetes, and facing vascular problems alongside their mental health challenges,” says Gomes. That concern led him to focus on insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome in people with bipolar disorder, beginning a line of research in 2005 that he carried through his postgraduate studies. “I wanted to understand how these medical comorbidities were influencing the course of illness—and why outcomes were so much worse for patients with metabolic issues.”