NARSAD Presents 2008 Klerman Award For Clinical Psychiatric Research To Gabriel De Erausquin Of Washington University

Main Category: Psychology / Psychiatry
Also Included In: Mental Health
Article Date: 05 Aug 2008 - 4:00 PDT

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Gabriel de Erausquin, M.D., Ph.D., an associate professor of psychiatry and neurology at the Washington University School of Medicine, received the 2008 Klerman Award, presented by NARSAD, the world's leading charity for research on mental illnesses.

The Klerman Award honors outstanding clinical psychiatric research initiated by early-career scientists who have received NARSAD grants. Dr. de Erausquin, recipient of 2004 and 2007 NARSAD Young Investigator grants, was selected for this year's award for his development of a method aimed at improving diagnosis and genetic understanding of schizophrenia. His goal is to overcome a current lack of clarity in distinguishing between affected persons and first-degree relatives - between risk and actual illness.

Dr. de Erausquin's method, involving brain imaging, biochemical studies and behavioral data, is based on the prevalence of parkinsonism in people with untreated schizophrenia and of deficits in the regulation of the neurotransmitter dopamine observed in patients with schizophrenia, but not in their first-degree relatives. To find a pool of untreated patients, he turned to a remote aboriginal population in Argentina, where he has trained local health workers to detect symptoms of mental illnesses in the local population and trained clinical researchers in diagnostic interviews and psychological assessments.

Dr. de Erausquin was selected for the Klerman Award by NARSAD's Scientific Council, a volunteer body of 103 eminent neuroscientists including two Nobel laureates. He was honored at a celebration held in New York on July 25 and attended by members of NARSAD's board of directors, Scientific Council and donors.

NARSAD established the award in 1994 in tribute to the late Gerald Klerman, M.D., a noted neuropsychiatric researcher and scientific mentor at Yale, Harvard and Cornell universities, and leader of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration during the administration of President Jimmy Carter.

About NARSAD

NARSAD began giving grants in1987 as the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression. Since then, the charity has given 3,474 grants totaling more than $234 million to scientists who have helped to pioneer research on the causes, treatment and prevention of mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, childhood disorders and other conditions.

NARSAD annually awards three classes of grants. Its Young Investigator Award helps promising young scientists to launch pilot studies that will facilitate their ability to apply for larger federal and private grants. The Independent Investigator Award sustains the independent research of outstanding mid-career scientists. NARSAD's Distinguished Investigator Award enables breakthrough research by established leaders at the forefront of neuropsychiatric research.

For additional information about NARSAD and the research and public education programs it supports, visit http://www.narsad.org.

NARSAD