The goal of this five-year training award is to further Dr. Laura Dunn's development as a geriatric psychiatry researcher, with a focus on psychiatric research ethics, specifically the empirical study of improving informed consent for research in older persons with schizophrenia or related disorders. The career development plan will build on Dr. Dunn's clinical background in psychiatry and geriatric psychiatry, and on her research background in psychiatric research ethics. In June 2001, Dr. Dunn completed her psychiatric residency at University of California, San Diego. She is currently a clinical fellow in Geriatric Psychiatry at UCSD. She has authored or co-authored a total of 14 articles that are published or in press, and she has presented six abstracts at national meetings. The overriding goal of the career development plan is to enable Dr. Dunn to become an independent investigator in geriatric psychiatry and psychiatric research ethics. The specific training targets are as follows: 1) attainment of a solid knowledge base in biomedical ethics, emphasizing ethical issues in geriatric psychiatry research and intervention studies; 2) coursework and consultation in experimental design, scale development, and quantitative and qualitative data analytic methods; 3) understanding of procedural, philosophical, and ethical issues arising in the design, implementation, analysis, and reporting of intervention trials (both psychopharmacologic and psychosocial); 4) empirical study of methods to enhance research participants' decisional abilities relevant for informed consent; 5) development, based on results and questions raised by the proposed study, of further interventions designed to enhance informed consent and decision-making processes for both research and treatment; and 6) dissemination of research findings to investigators in psychiatry and other biomedical fields. The plan includes structured coursework and consultation with experts in the fields of bioethics, geriatric psychiatry, schizophrenia research, psychiatric research ethics, and intervention studies. Dr. Dunn's firsthand research training will involve the implementation of a randomized trial of the effects of an enhanced consent procedure on decision-making capacity for research in middle-aged and older (>/= 50 years old) patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. The relationship of decisional abilities to psychopathology and cognitive functioning will be examined, and qualitative information about participants' attitudes toward and experience with research will be explored.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Award (K23)
Project #
5K23MH066062-02
Application #
6616768
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-SNEM-4 (03))
Program Officer
Cuerdon, Timothy
Project Start
2002-07-25
Project End
2007-06-30
Budget Start
2003-07-01
Budget End
2004-06-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2003
Total Cost
$167,724
Indirect Cost
Name
University of California San Diego
Department
Psychiatry
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
804355790
City
La Jolla
State
CA
Country
United States
Zip Code
92093
Fisher, Carl Erik; Dunn, Laura B; Christopher, Paul P et al. (2012) The ethics of research on deep brain stimulation for depression: decisional capacity and therapeutic misconception. Ann N Y Acad Sci 1265:69-79
Christopher, Paul P; Leykin, Yan; Appelbaum, Paul S et al. (2012) Enrolling in deep brain stimulation research for depression: influences on potential subjects' decision making. Depress Anxiety 29:139-46
Dunn, Laura B; Hoop, Jinger G; Misra, Sahana et al. (2011) ""A feeling that you're helping"": proxy decision making for Alzheimer's research. Narrat Inq Bioeth 1:107-22
Dunn, Laura B; Kim, Daniel S; Fellows, Ian E et al. (2009) Worth the risk? Relationship of incentives to risk and benefit perceptions and willingness to participate in schizophrenia research. Schizophr Bull 35:730-7
Dunn, Laura B; Green Hammond, Katherine A; Roberts, Laura Weiss (2009) Delaying care, avoiding stigma: residents' attitudes toward obtaining personal health care. Acad Med 84:242-50
Dunn, Laura B; Misra, Sahana (2009) Research ethics issues in geriatric psychiatry. Psychiatr Clin North Am 32:395-411
Jeste, Dilip V; Dunn, Laura B; Folsom, David P et al. (2008) Multimedia educational aids for improving consumer knowledge about illness management and treatment decisions: a review of randomized controlled trials. J Psychiatr Res 42:1-21
Dunn, Laura B; Palmer, Barton W; Appelbaum, Paul S et al. (2007) Prevalence and correlates of adequate performance on a measure of abilities related to decisional capacity: differences among three standards for the MacCAT-CR in patients with schizophrenia. Schizophr Res 89:110-8
Palmer, Barton W; Dunn, Laura B; Depp, Colin A et al. (2007) Decisional capacity to consent to research among patients with bipolar disorder: comparison with schizophrenia patients and healthy subjects. J Clin Psychiatry 68:689-96
Mittal, Dinesh; Palmer, Barton W; Dunn, Laura B et al. (2007) Comparison of two enhanced consent procedures for patients with mild Alzheimer disease or mild cognitive impairment. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 15:163-7

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