Schizophrenia Intervention Research: Maryland Psychiatric Research Center Receives $5.4 Million Grant

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 12, 1998

Contact:
Jennifer Donovan
Phone: 410/706-7946
Pager: 410/407-6873
[email protected]

Schizophrenia Intervention Research Maryland Psychiatric Research Center Receives $5.4 Million Grant

The University of Maryland School of Medicine's Maryland Psychiatric Research Center has been chosen as the site of a federally funded Specialized Mental Health Intervention Research Center. One of three centers funded nationwide by the National Institute of Mental Health to focus on schizophrenia, the MPRC is slated to receive $5.4 million over the next five years.

In controlled studies, the Intervention Research Center will evaluate the relative effectiveness of new drugs for treating schizophrenia. Five medications have been approved for schizophrenia during the 1990s, but little is known about how these drugs compare with each other, explains William T. Carpenter, Jr., MD, professor of psychiatry and director of the MPRC. Carpenter is principal investigator for the research program.

Researchers will study the effectiveness of each drug, not only in controlling symptoms of psychosis, but in moderating the more subtle but serious long-term effects of schizophrenia, such as impairments in thinking and emotional expression. The IRC will investigate treatments that might be used with existing therapies to better control these cognitive and emotional impairments. Researchers will use the latest in neuro-imaging techniques to study the exact nature of drug effects in the brain.

"We hope what we learn will enable us to develop new targets for drug therapy and effective treatments for the cognitive and emotional impairments that profoundly alter the ability of a person with schizophrenia to function and participate fully in society," says Carpenter.

University of Maryland School of Medicine faculty at the MPRC are internationally recognized as leaders in basic and clinical schizophrenia research, committed to translating scientific discoveries into practical applications, the MPRC director says.

"The Intervention Research Center award will help us bring science closer to the everyday arena of clinical care."

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