This is a new application for a Geriatric Mental Health Academic Award for Charles H. Kellner, M.D. The sponsor is the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina. The specific title of the application is Neuropsychiatric Aspects of Depression in the Aging. The goal of the application is to train the nominee to be an expert academic clinician/researcher in the field of depression in the aging. He would train faculty and residents in the Southeastern region of the United States and continue his career as an academic neuropsychiatrist. The nominee's dual training in neurology and psychiatry make him uniquely suited to the goals of this training program. The program plan has four main components: 1) training in geriatric medicine; 2) advanced training and research in electroconvulsive therapy, including a specific research proposal entitled, """"""""Weekly versus Three-times-per-week Electroconvulsive Therapy in the Treatment of Geriatric Depression""""""""; 3) training and research in the brain imaging techniques of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), and Brain Electrical Activity Mapping (BEAM); and 4) training in research methodology and biostatistics. For each of these four components, a program of formal courses, consultation with national experts, clinical work, teaching and research activities is set forth. The applicant institution, the Medical University of South Carolina, is well suited to carry out the goals of this training program. It has a new Center for the Study of Aging, as well as a new Institute of Psychiatry. It serves a largely underprivileged, minority population. The chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina, James C. Ballenger, M.D., will be the supervisor/sponsor for this program and will ensure that the nominee has the time and support to carry out the goals of this training program.
