FLORIDA NEUROPSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH

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Our overall objective is to develop nationally recognized mental health researchers in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Florida (UF). To this end we will implement a comprehensive and coherent plan to improve the current research environment of the Department. The plan will increase the number and quality of clinical investigators, increase the scope and quality of mental health research, and provide mechanisms for research training, mentoring, and consultation for junior investigators. These outcomes will improve the competitiveness of the Department of Psychiatry faculty for NIMH and related extramural funding. Successful implementation of this development plan will require attainment of the following objectives: expand our education and training efforts to include activities critical to the development of successful clinical investigators, recruit and retain junior and senior faculty and trainees who will contribute significantly to the research environment, expand our research access to clinical populations already being served and identify new special clinical populations for study; establish research support sections that will provide direct clinical, data services, and bioanalytical support to planned and ongoing investigations, develop and conduct specific pilot research projects that have the potential to become competitive for extramural funding, and develop a multidisciplinary research environment by establishing critical linkages with relevant departments and centers and integrating clinical and services research. The clinical research focus of these activities will be mood disorders and related conditions. These studies will address a significant number of priorities relevant to public health (Healthy People 2000), and reflect a clinical research focus with a growing capacity for services research. This latter endeavor will emphasize the academic/public psychiatry interface as well as urban and rural services issues (AIDS, homeless mentally ill, early identification). Rapid growth in the Department includes active recruitment of 18 new faculty in the past 24 months, establishment of laboratory space, creation of clinical research support positions, establishment of new clinical research space, establishment of access to clinical populations for clinical and services research, and creation of new fellowship programs. Such progress, coupled with the new UF Brain Institute and the new Department of Health Policy and Epidemiology as well as a Departmental commitment of release time, equipment, and support staff will ensure successful attainment of the objectives of this application. We believe that the initial steps taken to begin the development of a major mental health research program in Psychiatry at UF makes RISP funds an investment that will yield significant dividends in increased quality and number of mental health investigators conducting clinical and services research on important diseases and related conditions of public health relevance.