Infrastructure Support Program

Nemeroff, Charles

Abstract

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of the Emory University School of Medicine is applying for a Research Infrastructure Program (RISP) Grant. Funds are requested for partial salary support for junior faculty, especially women and minorities, and training expenses for junior faculty which take the form of support of the following modules: (l) A Patient Recruitment and Assessment Module, which will provide standardized psychiatric diagnostic and dimensional rating scales, as well as recruitment of patients with different psychiatric diagnoses and age- and sex-matched normal controls; (2) A Neuroendocrinology/Neurochemistry/Brain Imaging Module, which will provide consultation for measurement of routine hormones and neurotransmitters (and metabolites), as well as measurements of transporters and receptors. In addition, measurement of the concentrations of centrally acting drugs, including antidepressants, anxiolytics and antipsychotics in plasma and other biological fluids is available. This module will also provide expertise in structural (MRI) and functional (PET, SPECT, MRS) brain imaging; (3) A Biological Tissues and Fluids Module, which will provide for cataloging and storage of plasma, urine and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples, as well as platelets, lymphocytes and postmortem brain tissue from well-characterized patients diagnosed in life with a major psychiatric disorder; (4) An Experimental Design and Biostatistics Module, which will assist junior investigators with research design, as well as statistical analysis of the data generated. In order to maximize the likelihood of a rapid advancement in the quality and magnitude of clinical research in the Department, support is also requested for a modicum of inpatient bed costs at Emory University Hospital, travel support for junior faculty to attend national meetings, as well as for funding of an external Scientific Advisory Board to convene at Emory once per year to review the program. The support provided by the RISP, together with that provided to the Department by the Emory University School of Medicine (new laboratory and office space, seed money for new faculty, and support of senior faculty, as well as the new positron-emission tomography (PET) center), taken together with the more than ample patient population in the greater Atlanta area, will result in significant and lasting improvements in the Department's capacity to obtain extramural research funding.