The primary scientific focus of the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Mental Health Clinical Research Center (MHCRC) is the neurobiology of mood disorders. The major strategies currently pursued are: (a) Sleep and Chronobiology, (b) Neuroimmunology, (c) Neuroimaging, (d) Neurotransmitters, and (e) Genetics. The clinical studies are conducted both in the MHCRC Inpatient Unit, a specifically designated research ward located in the San Diego Veterans Affairs Medical Center (SDVAMC), and in the MHCRC Outpatient Clinical Research Center. The MHCRC assists investigators through the provision of partial services from: (a) the Recruiting Core, which helps to identify inpatients, outpatients, and normal controls; (b) the Diagnostic and Rating Core, which oversees training and formal evaluation by standardized rating (HRSD, POMS, and BPRS) and diagnostic interviews (SCID); (c) the Data Management and Statistical Core, which provides hardware and software for data management, statistical programs and consultation; (d) the Clinical Research Support Core, which coordinates, oversees, and helps in diagnostic evaluation, human subjects consent, the data collection and data entry, and interdigitation of the MHCRC research staff, clinical nursing staff, investigators and their own research staff, and the UCSD Fellows; and (e) the Core Neuroendocrine Laboratory which provides neuroendocrine assays for MHCRC investigators. The strategic themes of the MHCRC, scientific merit of each project, and long-term directions of the MHCRC investigations are overseen by the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC), while tactical decisions such as allocation of MHCRC resources, coordination of studies, and administrative decisions are made by the Steering Committee. An External Advisory reviews the administrative and scientific activities of the MHCRC each year. Investigators are expected to obtain independent funding to support secretarial and administrative support to the MHCRC Director. In addition, the MHCRC provides the setting for research training of young psychiatrists and other mental health workers and career development for junior faculty. It houses the UCSD Fellowship in Clinical Psychopharmacology and Psychobiology for young psychiatrists who work on MHCRC-related research projects under the direction of senior clinical scientists.
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