CENTER TO STUDY DEPRESSION, ANXIETY AND SUICIDE

This is a reapplication for a renewal of support for the Center to study Youth Depression, Anxiety, and Suicide (hereafter referred to as the CRC) at New York State Psychiatric Institute/Columbia University (NYSPI-CU). The CRC was first funded on August 1, 1989 and comprises a Central administrative core and three functional Cores that provide supporting services to investigators and research trainees. These are: 1) A Central administrative Core that also supervises the review and administration of pilot projects. 2) A Clinical Core that supports treatment and diagnostic studies through recruitment, screening and other services. 3) A Genetic Epidemiology Core, formerly the Family Genetics Core, that supports and provides training on procedures used in family and genetic research, and that will analyze appropriate epidemiological datasets. 4) A Biostatistics and Measurement Core and that offers consultation on biostatistics, research design and assessment, maintains a library of assessment measures, provides support for the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC) and its Editorial Committee, maintains a L.A.N. and supports a data management system for clinical investigators. In the four years since its start, the CRC has screened over 700 cases and enrolled over 100 into treatment protocols; provided consultation on approximately 50 research projects, provided over 400 consultations related to publications and research grant applications, given courses whose combined audiences totalled over 500 and distributed over 30 pilot grants. During this time, the research environment at NYSPI-CU has flourished such that in June 1993, 30 investigators held over 80 different research grants in the area of child and adolescent psychopathology nd the number of research fellows who can draw on the CRC increased from 9 in 1988 to 12. The productivity of Center faculty and users is documented by the fact that during these 4 years, 619 publications have appeared or are in press. This re-submission repeats our previous request for an increase in funds that is justified by the Center's current level of activity and maturity.