The Risk Research Consortium was organized formally in May, 1973, in order to foster closer communication, research consultation and active collaboration on training and longitudinal research in schizophrenia and related emotional disorders. With private foundation support, the Consortium has sponsored two or three research meetings each year, usually small and limited in attendance, in order to promote active interchange among investigators. The members of the Consortium share in common an interest in studying individuals at high risk for schizophrenia and related disorders. Their specific research objectives vary widely, but generally are aimed at identifying preexisting biochemical, physiological, psychological, or life-history characteristics which differentiate those who ultimately develop schizophrenia from those who do not. This approach offers opportunities also for preventing the development of manifest schizophrenia and other forms of serious psychopathology, through early identification and clinical intervention. The Steering Committee of the Consortium (James Anthony, Michael Goldstein, Jon Rolf, Norman Watt) and the entire membership, as polled at the Plenary Conference in March, 1980, unanimously agrees that the activities of the Consortium should continue for five more years. The accomplishments of the organization during its nine-year history are reviewed. We propose to continue our program of topical conferences and internal communication, to take leadership in publishing the findings of prospective studies in the risk research field, to initiate a new program of small grants to facilitate replication studies and subject pooling across research groups, and to open our membership to a limited extent to investigators in other areas of prospective research.
