Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance Honors Top Researchers, Clinicians at American Psychiatric Association Conference in San Diego

Doctors Kay Redfield Jamison, Frederick Goodwin, Ned Kalin among honorees at consumer organization’s annual scientific advisory board luncheon

(CHICAGO, June 5, 2007)— The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA), the nation’s largest patient-run organization focusing on the most prevalent mental illnesses, honored five top researchers and clinicians at a luncheon at the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA)160th Annual Meeting in San Diego, Calif., May 19-23. 

The awardees were selected by DBSA’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) Executive Committee in consultation with DBSA constituents.  Consumers and family members participated via an online vote that overviewed the work of each nominated researcher and allowed consumers and their families to vote for the researchers they believed had the greatest impact of their health and wellness.. DBSA’s SAB comprises some of the leading researchers and clinicians in the nation focusing on mood disorders.

This year’s event also marked the presentation of a new honor with the introduction of the DBSA Hope Award, now the highest honor the organization can bestow. The award was established to recognize the lifelong contributions of individuals who have helped improve the lives of people living with mood disorders. 

In addition to the Hope Award, DBSA chose senior and young investigators as recipients of the Gerald L. Klerman Award, given annually in appreciation of lifetime contributions to understanding the causes, diagnosis and treatment of depressive and bipolar illnesses.

The first-ever recipients of the DBSA Hope Awards were Dr. Frederick Goodwin, psychiatry professor at George Washington University Medical Center and former director the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH); and renowned author and researcher Dr. Kay Redfield Jamison.

Dr. Ned Kalin, Hedberg Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin Medical School accepted the 2006 Gerald L. Klerman Senior Investigator Award.

Dr. Martha Sajatovic and Dr. Helen Verdeli were honored as co-recipients of the 2006 Gerald L. Klerman Young Investigator Award. Dr. Sajatovic is a professor of psychiatry at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio; and Dr. Verdeli is a member of the Mental Health Advisory Committee for the Millennium Villages Project of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, in addition to being a newly impaneled member of DBSA’s SAB.

“Partnership between consumers, clinicians and the research community are so important to ensuring we have the most effective treatments and ultimately find a cure for these devastating illnesses,” said Sue Bergeson, DBSA’s president, who presented the awards. “Each and every one of these honorees qualifies as a patient-celebrated clinician.”

After the DBSA Hope Award, the Klerman Awards are the highest honor that DBSA extends to members of the scientific community. The awards are named after Gerald L. Klerman, MD, one of DBSA’s earliest supporters. A major figure in psychiatry, he led the first large-scale study to understand the diagnosis, course and genetics of major depression. 

Dr. Klerman conducted the first clinical trial showing the efficacy of medication and psychotherapy in the prevention of recurrent depression. For that trial he developed interpersonal psychotherapy, an evidence-based treatment widely used today and modified for the adjunct treatment of medicated patients with bipolar disorder.

For more information on the Hope and Klerman Award winners, or information on depression and bipolar disorder, visit www.DBSAlliance.org.

For more information contact Keith Romero at (312) 642-0049.