Spring 2012 PENN Issue #11 Psychiatry Perspective THE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHIATRY’S NEUROPSYCHIATRIC SIGNALING PROGRAM: Seeking New Research Paradigms for In This Issue Studies of Psychiatric Illnesses COVER STORY Neuropsychiatric Signaling ecent years have seen tremendous progress in understanding the biological Program . 1 “Rmechanisms of psychiatric illnesses,” says Associate Professor Chang-Gyu Hahn, MD, PhD, who co-directs the Department of Psychiatry’s Neuropsychiatric Sig- CHAIRMAN’S REPORT . 2 naling Program (NPSP) with Assistant Professor Karin Borgmann-Winter, MD. “As we PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS witness burgeoning information in Hall Mercer Wellness Fairs . .3 molecular and cellular biology Professionalism Program . .4 derived from animal and/or in vitro OUR DISTINGUISHED FACULTY studies, an important question is Awards and Honors . 7 how to relate these findings to clini- News & Goings On . 15 Research News . .21 cally relevant issues.” Research Grants . .26 Closing the gap between basic sci- Our Department in the News . .31 ence discovery and translation into New Faculty . .36 improved understanding and treat- CORNERSTONES ment of psychiatric illnesses is an Faculty Spotlight . .38 ultimate goal of the NPSP. Program Voluntary Faculty Profile . .42 researchers focus on signal trans- Employee Snapshot . .44 duction, a fundamental biological EDUCATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS mechanism by which molecules initiate or retard interactions within and between Residents’ Corner . .46 cells. It is the window through which Drs. Hahn and Borgmann-Winter view psychi- Class of 2015 . .47 atric illness, particularly bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Investigating signaling mechanisms requires access to tissue samples, and selecting the optimal tissues to study brain diseases is critical. Because living human brain tis- sue is not accessible for experimentation, scientists must devise creative solutions to investigate biological processes that occur within the brain, and this is the focus of Up-to-date information on the NPSP. “We have a special interest in developing new study paradigms, which Departmental Events are include studies in the olfactory epithelium and biochemical and molecular methods available on the that can be applied to animal models and human post-mortem tissues,” says Dr. Department’s website Hahn. (www.med.upenn.edu/psych) One of Dr. Hahn’s and Dr. Borgmann-Winter’s scientific contributions has been to develop and establish a prototype for using tissues of the olfactory neuroepithelium to trace the course of psychiatric disease. The olfactory neuroepithelium is part of the neural system in humans for detecting odors. It is found in the nose and is acces- sible for obtaining tissue samples, unlike the human brain. Department of Psychiatry Besides easy availability, the olfactory epithelium offers other advantages to and researchers. The olfactory epithelium contains neurons of various developmental Penn Behavioral Health University of Pennsylvania Continued on page 5 PAGE 2 PENN PSYCHIATRY PERSPECTIVE SPRING 2012 Chairman’s Report 012 is a milestone year in the history of our profession and Reese, Professor of Medical 2Department. It is the bicentennial year of the beginning of Jurisprudence and Toxicology, academic psychiatry in America here at Penn, and the 100th became the first Penn faculty anniversary of the official formation of the Department of Psy- member to lead an explicitly chiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. named program on “mental dis- eases.” Reese was followed by Looking back every now and then helps us appreciate our line- Charles K. Mills, who developed age, and encourages our efforts to take our places in a proud an interest in mental diseases in succession of world-acclaimed educators, scholars, and clini- the 1880s, supplementing his cians. 2012 reminds us of the extraordinary privilege it is to be interest in neurology. Mills at an institution where – over centuries – so many have con- wrote about the neurological tributed so much to our Department’s rich tradition, and to the aspects of the “criminally discipline of psychiatry. insane” and participated in the The image of Benjamin Rush adorns the cover of our Depart- post-mortem examination in ment’s newsletter, and the story of psychiatry at Penn – and in 1882 of Charles Guiteau, Presi- America itself – begins with him. In 1769, Rush returned from dent James Garfield’s assassin. his medical training in Edinburgh, Scotland to accept appoint- Tying back to Rush and forward to our Department today, both ment as America’s first Chair of Chemistry in the medical facul- Reese and Mills treated alcoholism and drug addiction. ty at the College of Philadelphia, later the University of Mills was professor of mental diseases and medical jurispru- Pennsylvania. He thus became one of the earliest teachers in the dence until 1901. He was succeeded by Charles W. Burr, also a nation’s first medical school, formed only four years before in distinguished neurologist, who was appointed Penn’s first 1765. Rush was a “man for all seasons,” gaining fame as a great Chair of Mental Diseases. According to medical school histori- physician, eloquent lecturer, prolific scholar, Dean of the Penn an George Corner (Two Centuries of Medicine: A History of the medical school, philanthropist, and signer of the Declaration of School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, 1965), this appoint- Independence, among many other pursuits. ment “marked the University of Pennsylvania’s recognition of Rush was also the world’s leading expert on mental diseases in psychiatry as a separate discipline.” In 1912, a full century after the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. According to the publication of Rush’s seminal work, the Department of Psy- historians David Cooper and Marshall Ledger (Innovation and chiatry was formally established under Burr’s leadership. Tradition at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine: An In many respects, the success of our Department since its offi- Anecdotal Journey, 1990), Rush joined the staff of Pennsylvania cial formation is even more impressive than what came before. Hospital in 1783 and soon became interested in the two dozen Many of psychiatry’s most distinguished luminaries have mentally ill patients residing there. He worked to improve their passed through our halls over the past century. Many are work- physical environment, successfully organizing the effort to ing in the Department today and have been featured in the build a ward for them at the hospital in the 1790’s, and he stud- pages of this newsletter. I’m confident that we have more than ied the patients intensively. held our own over the past 100 years. Granted, competing In 1812, only a year before his death, Rush’s long period of against a signer of the Declaration of Independence who found- observation and reflection culminated in his Medical Inquiries ed the study of mental illness in America is a tall challenge, but and Observations Upon Diseases of the Mind, the first American it’s one we aspire to. As we enter the third century of psychia- textbook of psychiatry. This volume, which offered new try at Penn, let’s redouble our efforts to educate the next gener- approaches for treating the mentally ill, forever identified him ation of psychiatrists, conduct discovery research on the the as the “Father of American Psychiatry” and Penn as the “Birth- causes, prevention, and treatment of mental illness, and care for place of American Psychiatry.” Interestingly, too, Rush staunch- those who suffer from these diseases and disorders. ly opposed excessive alcohol consumption and proposed new ways to treat this addiction, a topical link to one of our Depart- ment’s current strengths. From this momentous peak, however, the study and treatment of mental illness, and the instruction of students in the disci- pline, meandered at Penn and elsewhere for most of the nine- teenth century. Penn medical students were instructed in Dwight L. Evans, MD psychiatry primarily through lectures. They did see some Ruth Meltzer Professor and Chair patients at Pennsylvania Hospital and, after 1841, at the mental Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine and Neuroscience hospital (“insane asylum”) located nearby in West Philadelphia, but exposure to psychiatry was limited and not a focus at Penn or elsewhere. Not until the 1880’s did the study of mental illness begin to To view recent Chairman Reports on-line, please visit: assume a prominent place in the institution. In 1883, John J. http://www.med.upenn.edu/psych/chair.html www.med.upenn.edu/psych PAGE 3 www.med.upenn.edu/psych Program Highlights HALL MERCER’S 2010 AND 2011 HEALTH AND WELLNESS FAIRS: MAKING THE LINK BETWEEN PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH ong known for the high quality is not enough,” Hall Mercer and Lof its community-centered the Health and Wellness Commit- behavioral health programs, the tee are committed to helping peo- Hall Mercer Community Behav- ple with mental illness enjoy full ioral Health Center at Pennsylva- and healthy lives. The Fairs are the nia Hospital sponsored important Committee’s first major functions, public health outreach events on and it is already well on the way to October 21, 2010 and April 21, developing additional wellness ini- 2011. tiatives in the areas of nutrition, exercise, complementary and alter- Hall Mercer’s 2010 and 2011 native therapies, and health educa- Health and Wellness Fairs attract- Earl Lounsberry, RN, checks the blood tion. ed a diverse group of senior citi- pressure of Security Officer Earl Williams. Hall Mercer is convinced that by zens, children, patients, providers, Refreshments, raffles, and door working with the whole person in and Pennsylvania Hospital staff prizes made the Fairs fun events, members. Many attendees had the but with a serious purpose. The opportunity to have their blood health screenings, demonstrations, pressure checked, learn about car- and information collectively diovascular health, observe breast emphasized that healthy living self-exam demonstrations conduct- requires both good physical and mental health. Science has shown that the two reinforce each other, and that a deficiency in either may profoundly impact the other.