The tragedy of Sept. 11, 2001, brought so much public attention to mental health care that the National Institute of Mental Health has awarded several grants for the study of the needs incurred following these attacks. Grants were given to Cynthia Pfeffer, M.D.; David Vlahov, Ph.D., and Gerry Fairbrother, Ph.D.; Rose Zimering, Ph.D.; Charles Marmar, M.D.; Hector Bird, M.D.; Edna Foa Ph.D., and Rachel Yehuda, Ph.D.; Joseph LeDoux, Ph.D.; Daphne Simeon M.D.; and Joann Difede, Ph.D. These researchers from various universities and institutions were given grants to support or continue research on topics such as Sept. 11's effects on mental health symptoms, disorders and care service use; posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other disorders in children as a result of losing a parent in the attacks; and PTSD in clinicians treating victims of the attacks.
To recognize outstanding research in the diagnosis and treatment of depressive and manic-depressive illnesses, the 2001 Gerald L. Klerman Senior Investigator Awards were given separately to Robert Hirschfeld, M.D., and John Mann, M.D. The Klerman Young Investigator Award was presented to Sarah Lisanby, M.D.
Jon Fryer, M.D., recently retired professor of psychiatry at Temple University, received the Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists. Now openly homosexual, Fryer appeared as Dr. H. Anonymous at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in 1971, a time when the DSM still considered homosexuality a psychiatric disorder.
Also receiving awards were Phillip Resnick, M.D. (Isaac Ray Award); Gene Usdin, M.D. (Champion of Public Health Award from Tulane University); and Stephen Stahl, M.D. (Lundbeck International Neuroscience Foundation 2002 Prize for Education in Psychiatry and Neurology).
Nancy C. Andreasen, M.D., Ph.D., was appointed as new director of the MIND Institute and Stephen E. Locke, M.D., is the new president-elect of the American Psychosomatic Society. Keep an eye out in July for the Behavioral Healthcare Leadership Awards to be presented by Eli Lilly & Co. The awards, which were originally scheduled for release in early June, were postponed to allow extra time for consideration due to the unexpected overabundance of applicants--RR
