The proposed Mental Health Clinical Research Center (MHCRC) will provide core personnel, consultation and equipment which will maximize clinical research on schizophrenia, mania and depression carried out by the investigators of the Mailman Research Center (MRC) at the McLean Hospital. The MHCRC will co-ordinate clinical research studies and will provide standardized corrdinated interactions and standardized methods of clinical assessment and data management among the various Sections of the MRC. The MHCRC includes extensive collaborations with the Department of Biostatistics of the Harvard School of Public Health. The relationship between biostatisticians and clinical investigators will heavily emphasize collaboration on the design of experiments and management of data and not simply on analysis of results. It also provides computer facilities for more efficient storage, retrieval, and analysis of data. Furthermore, the MHCRC will facilitate access to, and study of research subjects in several ways. The McLean Hospital is increasing the number of inpatient units under the direction of the MRC and will provide further increases when the MHCRC is established. In addition, the MHCRC will foster even closer co-operation between the McLean admissions staff and the MRC staff, to aid in the acquisition and screening of potential clinical research subjects. The MHCRC staff wil also provide mechanisms for the short- and long-term follow-up of subjects and the evaluation of outpatients and relatives of patients, who eill be essential to some studies. The MHCRC will permit improved project design by providing a limited amount of support for inpatient research and so obviating restrictions presently imposed by third party reimbursement regulations. The MHCRC will also encourage more efficient collaborations with other scientists in the Boston community. Finally, the MHCRC will markedly enhance the training of medical students, psychiatry residents and fellows, and psychology interns and fellows who will take part in the clinical, researcj amd academic work of the MHCRC and who are expected to develop careers in clinical investigation at the MHCRC and elsewhere in the future.
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