GENETICS IN CHILD PSYCHIATRY

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Description: Child and Adolescent Mental Health Academic Award. The nominee, William McMahon, M.D., proposes to create a new research component for the small but established and growing Division of Child Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Utah. The research will focus on the application of molecular, population and clinical genetics to child psychiatry. The nominee, now a successful clinician-teacher and part-time collaborator in research directed by others, will devote full time to learning research skills for which he is now untrained. The Department Chairman, also acting Chief of the Child Division, will personally supervise the nominee in helping him to develop into a new position for the Department, Director of Child Psychiatry Research. Utah experts in human gene disease mapping, Drs, Ray White, Mark Leppert, Lynn Jorde and John Carey will direct and support educational, investigational and collaborative activities focuses on Tourette Disorder and Autism as models of child and adolescent diseases. Dr. Donald Cohen will help direct and evaluate program progress as Tourette expert and experienced head of an established child psychiatry research training program, the Yale Child Study Center. This Academic Award will meet Utah's need for a research trained child psychiatrist to mentor junior faculty in exploiting outstanding local resources for genetic research and will also begin a formal research training program. A unique, very large Tourette family pedigree forms the backbone of linkage and segregation analysis studies already begun and natural history and at-risk investigations to be organized. Autism collaborations will provide further secondary research experience and potential projects for Division research trainees. The nominee will be released from all current clinical duties, receive supplemental salary and gain access to laboratory, computer and clinical research resources during the award period. Afterwards, employment has been guaranteed in the Department and the adjacent children's hospital. Evaluation procedures include supervisory sessions, formal work-in-progress seminars, external review and feedback visits, Grand Rounds presentations by child psychiatry trainees and presentations, publications and grant proposals by the nominee.