Yale School of Medicine is creating a new Center for Brain and Mental Health to foster collaboration among the various departments of clinical and translational neuroscience.

Arshunor Kaul

September 9, 2022 at 12:35 AM

Contributing reporter

Joy Lian, Staff Illustrator

Yale University’s clinical and translational neuroscience research will have a new home at the Center for Brain and Mind Health (CBMH).

Led by the Yale University School of Medicine, CBMH is headed by a group of five co-directors spanning various disciplines in clinical and translational neuroscience. The Center will focus on funding public health-oriented research in hopes of directly promoting better patient outcomes for brain and mind conditions, with an emphasis on the diagnosis, management, and treatment of real patients. guess. The Center will also undertake various educational initiatives in its mission to improve the brain and mental health of the general public.

CBMH co-director Kevin Sheth wrote: “We also anticipate active participation from faculty from all departments of the medical school and schools around campus. Finally, this is a great opportunity to work with Yale Medicine and Yale New Haven Health System. We have a real opportunity to meet patients where they are and partner with them to introduce and develop innovations.”

The group of co-directors consists of Eyiyemisi Damisah MED ’11, James McPartland, Christopher Pittenger ’94, Sheth and Serena Spudich. Sheth emphasizes the importance of working together as a team,[ing] Diversity of our individual experiences and backgrounds. “

Rather than focusing on a specific disease or condition, the center addresses brain and mental health as a multidisciplinary issue.

“Depression and anxiety interfere with productivity and health in almost every area,” writes Sheth. “Dementia and stroke are the leading causes of disability in our country. Our goal is for Yale to play a leading role in finding solutions to these problems.”

The team, formed by Nancy Brown, Dean of the Yale School of Medicine, looks forward to discussing ways to strengthen Yale’s contributions to the field of clinical and translational neuroscience research.

Since the beginning of 2021, the director has been working to bring the center’s vision to life, Pittenger said.

“Throughout 2021, we met with our stakeholders. [the] community – Chairs and other leaders of relevant departments and centers, and many faculty members working in basic, translational, and clinical neuroscience,” wrote Pittenger.

This vision for the future of the university in the field of neuroscience was discussed in more detail at the Clinical Translational Neuroscience Retreat in November 2021. Over 150 of his members from Yale University and the Yale-New Haven Health System attended the event.

McPartland, one of CBMH’s co-directors, explains:

CBMH plans to take an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to its research. Pittenger stressed that there can often be a disconnect between basic science and clinical research, but CBMH “facilitates the translation of new insights from the lab to the clinic and vice versa.” By doing so, we aim to fill this gap.

Outside of Yale, CBMH’s directors also hope to develop relationships with the VA Connecticut Health Care System and the Connecticut Mental Health Center.

“Collaboration and inclusiveness were among the founding ideals, and the Center will work together in the spirit of improving neurological and psychiatric health, some of the most important areas of public health today. We cultivate new models,” said Sheth.

CBMH provides internal pilot grants to support research that fosters collaboration across different departments and disciplines of the university, highlighting synergistic projects involving multiple principal investigators. The Center will soon announce postdoc positions and research grants available for impactful clinical and translational neuroscience projects.

In addition to this, CBMH will also lead educational initiatives in line with the goal of improving neurological and psychiatric health in a wider patient population. The Center hopes to organize lectures, symposiums, workshops and seminars in the near future.

Yale Medical School was founded in 1810.