14th Annual Research Conference

In her opening remarks at the 14th Annual New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) Research Conference, Lieutenant Governor Mary Donohue praised PI for its worldwide leadership in mental health research. But researchers and clinicians from State facilities believed there was still more to be done and, as they gathered in Albany to discuss professional issues, their concerns were directed to the progress in and barriers to successfully addressing treatment of a wide array of psychiatric disorders - not the least of which was trauma.

In the context of the events of September 11, research advances in determining the effects of chronic stress on the brain and of acute stress on reactivating psychiatric disorders have become critical. The mental health needs of New Yorkers stemming from the terrorist attacks and intervention and treatment strategies were the focus of several presentations. According to OMH reports, at least two million people in New York City stand to develop emotional distress. In order to meet the emerging mental health needs of the New York state population, Project Liberty, a collaboration of state and local mental health authorities, has been created. Randall Marshall—Director of Trauma Studies at PI and Chief of the New York City Consortium for Effective Trauma Treatment—presented on appraisals of estimated needs of the NYC community and the availability of resources to meet those needs.

As other speakers demonstrated, other threats of violence plague us. A recently aborted plan to attack classmates in a school in the tri-state area and a shooting at the Martin Luther King Jr. Junior High School have again alerted us to the ever-present danger of school violence. While violence among youth has decreased since the 1990’s, said Dr. Peter Jensen of Child Psychiatry, exposure to violence has increased. Dr. Madelyn Gould and colleagues, addressing suicide as a form of violence against the self, have been studying suicide clusters around the U.S. in order to pinpoint risk factors for suicide contagion. They are fairly certain that media reports of suicide, for example, can significantly increase the rate of suicide.

In other matters, Dr. David Strauss, head of PI’s Institutional Review Board, wrapped up his talk on research ethics by asking that research institutions require that industry sponsors “provide a description of the mechanisms for notification of patients of their status” after a study’s completion. In FDA regulated phase II and phase III studies, both patients and investigators are blind to the individual treatment assignment and many patients never learn to what treatment they were assigned.

The live satellite presentation focused on managing patients with dementia and differentiating primary dementia from non-dementia psychiatric disorders that can occur in the elderly. The momentum of the two days’ worth of presentations carried through to the closing panel discussion entitled "Living with Substance Abuse." Charisse Strawberry, wife of former Yankee Darryl Strawberry and President of the Florida chapter of the National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence, put a very personal spin on the disease of addiction and its effect on families.

2001 Research Conference Awards
The Heinz E. Lehmann Research Award: Frederick Goodwin, MD for his outstanding research accomplishments
The 2001 Research Awards: Karen Duff, PhD of the Nathan Kline Institute and Dolores Malaspina, MD, MSPH of New York State Psychiatric Institute for outstanding contributions to psychiatric research in Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia, respectively