Neuropsychopharmacology the first fifty years

2003 CHARNEY

Tone: Do you feel that the ascendancy of biological psychiatry has advanced the field?

Charney: Yes, definitely. And there are many things that go into it; the role of biological psychiatry is important, the role of prominent people being role models is very important, being TV is important, whether it be the advertisements that we were talking about or it being portrayed in positive ways on TVshows or in movies, all that helps. That’s been very important, very gratifying. So doing what I can with the advocacy groups to get the word out, to support their mission, to break down stigma, is one of the most enjoyable things that I do. The ACNP is more of a scientific organization, so in that sense we work to help the advocacy organizations do their job by providing advice to them, by giving our opinions about the important issues of the day that relate to treatment.

(Dennis S. Charney interviewed by Andrea Tone; Volume 8.)

2005 WEINBERGER

(Daniel R. Weinberger interviewed by Steven Potkin; Volume 2.)

2006 DAVIS K

Watson: So, you worked on Alzheimer’s disease and it turned out to be useful to you. Do you want to talk a little bit about that?

Davis:: We continued our work with physostigmine that led to many fruitful efforts. I was awarded for it with one of the first NIH funded Alzheimer’s Disease Centers, as well as I was recipient of the Elkes and Efron Awards from the ACNP, and receiving this year, the Hoch Award for service to the College.

(Kenneth L. Davis interviewed by Stanley J. Watson; Volume 8.)

2007 CARPENTER

Ban: Could you tell us about your activities in ACNP? When did you become a member? What would you consider your most important contribution to the organization?

Carpenter: Well, I probably became a member around 1978 or 1979, after coming to the MPRC. I became a fellow in 1981. I enjoy the meetings and have served on several committees, but don’t know if I contributed much. I have now started serving on Council, and this work seems very important. I am particularly interested in how we manage relations with industry, address conflict-of-interest issues, and how we establish credibility as an independent source of expertise on neuropsychopharmacology issues.

(William T. Carpenter, Jr. interviewed by Thomas A. Ban; Volume 5.)

2008 RAPOPORT

Healy: How we view the history of psychiatry would be changed.

Rapoport: You’re interviewing many clinicians as part of this process. This organization has played a golden leadership role and the ACNP has had a wonderful influence on me, but I hope that they work very hard to encourage the kind of clinical research that couldn’t be done within a CRO, but would be beneficial to the scientific field.

(Judith L. Rapoport interviewed by David Healy; Volume 7.)

THE MEMBERSHIP AND THE STORY OF ACNP
In this section excerpts relevant to the story of ACNP are presented from 30 interviews conducted with 30 members of the College. The information in the excerpts is restricted to the personal involvement of interviewees in the activities` of the College. Although many statements read like testimonials, they also assist in providing the social background and academic rationale as to why the College is so attractive to young scientists. The general tone reflects the fact that being part of the College is unlike simply being a member of a scientific association but through its social aspects and unique collegiality, it opens new pathways for one’s career. In case a member acknowledges personal roles in the College or contact with other well-known members who served as mentors, but only refer to the College, tangentially, the extract of his/her interview is presented in Appendix Three.

Interviewees are identified by their surname and the year they were elected a members of ACNP. At the end of each excerpt the name of the interviewee and the interviewer, as well as the volume in which the full transcript appears is noted.

The Excerpts
ANGRIST (1975)

Janowsky: Did you present it?

Angrist: Sam suggested I present it at the annual meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry. I think it was in 1969 in Miami. It was my first meeting, and my first presentation. I thought the senior people in the field would be wise old men who would say, who’s this kid, but they were enormously supportive, positive and enthusiastic, and said, “You’re doing a nice work, kid. Keep it up”. And, that gave me such a boost that it really, really, made an enormous impact and big difference to me. And, the ACNP has done the same thing, you know. It charges your batteries every year.

(Burt Angrist interviewed by David S. Janowsky; Volume 5.)

ARANGO (1997)

Tone: How welcoming have scientific psychiatric associations been to you as a non-psychiatrist?

Arango: Oh, very welcoming. I have been coming here since 1988, I was accepted for membership in 1994, and I really love this meeting. I have always had a very good reception from the psychiatric community. And, I think it’s a very good mix.

(Victoria Arango interviewed by Andrea Tone; Volume 7.)

BEASLEY (2007)

Potter: How did you get involved with the ACNP?

Beasley: That’s an interesting story. I was actually at the twenty-fifth anniversary meeting in Washington, DC. As you recall, this was a huge meeting. The residency training programs had been encouraged to have at least one resident attend. Dave Garver was the biological psychiatrist at Cincinnati and the only ACNP member from Cincinnati. I was invited by him to attend. So, that was my first meeting, 22 years ago, and that was a major exciting event for me, with all of the major names and individuals in the field speaking at the meeting. –Many of the NIMH folks, including you, being very prominent at that time. So, that was a very, very positive experience for me.

Potter: I would be interested in tracking how you interacted with the ACNP over those years and what and how that played into what you were doing. And also, when did you actually become a formal member?

Beasley: I attended almost every ACNP meeting from that original Washington 25th anniversary meeting through the current meeting. I always viewed myself, having been in the industry, as really not a major player. And, I did not apply for membership in the ACNP until 2005 and was elected in 2006.

Potter: So, just for the sake of history, was there any work you have been doing that you felt would be of merit for becoming a member of ACNP?

Beasley: The initial development of olanzapine and my involvement with the topic of the relationship between pharmacotherapy and suicidality have been very important matters. Also, my effort to try to very accurately characterize, in a clinical framework, the safety profiles of molecules has been important, certainly to me. I thought, perhaps, the College might consider these things appropriate basis for membership consideration.

Potter: Of course, they were. Clearly you were attending the annual meetings even though you were not a member for many, many years. Was there any special ACNP event that comes to mind in the respect of our history?

Beasley: One of the most memorable moments was the first debate on the matter of antidepressants, specifically SSRIs, and suicide. It was an evening study group and John Mann was chairing the meeting. This would have been the 1991 meeting I believe. Marty Teicher spoke and I presented the Lilly data. This meeting was held just before the major reception, out at the fort behind the Caribe. I spent most of the evening at the reception chatting with Marty although I firmly disagreed with some of his positions. I would not describe that as a comfortable evening. So, that was probably my most memorable ACNP experience but not my best memory. This has been a great place to come to share ideas.

(Charles M. Beasley interviewed by William Z. Potter; Volume 8.)

BLACKWELL (2005)

DR: How did that change the trajectory of your career?

BB: I began the job in the fall of 1968 at the age of 34. It provided all the resources necessary to learn about America and the pharmaceutical industry. Frank Ayd was a consultant to the company and took me under his wing, introducing me to the ACNP and to leading researchers in the field. We collaborated in convening a meeting of all the leading researchers who had made the original discoveries in psychopharmacology and published their personal stories in our book, Discoveries in Biological Psychiatry.

DR: Were you able to continue your own research interests?

BB: Frank and I presented several workshops at ACNP meetings and published two papers together on the scientific and ethical problems with psychotropic drug research in prison volunteers. Working with a colleague in another company we wrote an article about the roles and tasks of an industry physician. I published some Phase I clinical pharmacology on the cardiovascular effects of tricyclic compounds and on comparisons of the anticholinergic properties of different compounds using a technique to measure salivary flow.

(Barry Blackwell interviewed by Donald S. Robinson, Volume 4.)

BLAZER (2004)

Tone: Is there anything that you wanted to add, any final thoughts?

Blazer: I have one final thing that’s kind of interesting. This is my first year as a member of ACNP. I’m glad to get in. I’m a psychosocial epidemiologist. Why would you want somebody like me around? But I think the ACNP has widened its spectrum, I’m not your traditional member. It’s not only very important and very rewarding to me personally, because I’ve had a thoroughly enjoyable time at this meeting, but I think it’s probably good for the organization. They need people like me.

(Dan G. Blazer interviewed by Andrea Tone; Volume 7.)

BOWDEN (1987)

Bowden: So, I start working in anxiety and depression and ended up as part of this NIMH collaborative study of the psychobiology of depression that has influenced my career. Some of the members of the ACNP were part of that clinical collaborative study.

(Charles L. Bwden interviewed by Andrea Tone; Volume 4.)

COOPER (1983)

Ban: How did you get involved with the ACNP?

Cooper: We did that in 1971 and we published after we presented our findings at the ACNP. It was the first presentation I made at the ACNP.

Ban: When was that?

Cooper: I gave my first paper here in 1972, and then pretty much presented a paper every year at the ACNP. They are wonderful meetings where one can interact with people and scientists, both at the basic and the clinical level.

Ban: What year did you become a member?

Cooper: I became a member in 1983.

(Thomas B. Cooper interviewed by Thomas A. Ban; Volume 7.)

DUNNER (1976)

Ban: When did you join ACNP?

Dunner: I went to my first ACNP meeting in 1972, and joined the College around 1974. I don’t remember the exact date, but at that time meetings were mostly in Puerto Rico, though occasionally California. I met people like Max Hamilton. Our group at Columbia was right next door to Joe Zubin, a wonderful person who had tremendous influence on American psychiatry. He was a psychologist who helped to develop the DSM-III system and Bob Spitzer had worked in his lab. Joe was very sympathetic toward research and less so to analytic psychiatry. We were doing research that made sense to him so we became friendly. I remember having lunch with Joe and Max Hamilton, and meeting this grumpy, old English man who never seemed to have a nice thing to say but with a little twinkle to his sneer. It was exciting for me as a very young person. ACNP at that time had maybe 200 members. It was easy to have lunch with a basic scientist or another clinician, and much less complicated than it is now where you have to hunt for people or make appointments to see them. There were fewer sessions, and a coffee break that everybody went to so one could easily find people to chat with.

Ban: Were the meetings still at the Sheraton?

Dunner: At the Caribe Hilton more than the Sheraton. While at Columbia I wrote about 50 papers and started to do national talks. I always tried to present at Biological Psychiatry, the APA and ACNP. Those were meetings I targeted, and I tried to write a paper for each occasion.

Ban: Let me ask you about your activities in ACNP?

Dunner: ACNP has always had the problem that we don’t know how to appoint new members. When I was elected they created a category of scientific associate that I became. A few years later they decided that didn’t make any sense because some really prominent people were scientific associates, and so they made all the scientific associates members. I have been on a bunch of committees, and I like to do that when I am part of an organization. So I set up a symposium, I was on committees but in order to be a committee chair you had to be a fellow. In the early 1980s I was appointed chair of the education training committee. I was really excited by that because I knew it meant I had been elected to fellowship. I have only missed one meeting since 1972 and I think I presented at each meeting I attended. For the last several years I have usually nominated someone for membership, and I have been on a number of committees and task forces for ACNP. I love coming here. The organization is a lot bigger than the original 200 people, but you learn an awful lot coming, sitting and talking with people.

Ban: Is there anything else that you would like to add?

Dunner: I think family is something that never gets covered. My wife didn’t come with me during the early times when we were in New York because we had young kids at home and it was right before Christmas. But since we moved to Seattle Peggy has come to just about all the meetings and that has been a very integral part of enjoying them. You structure your life around meetings and this one is on my calendar for the next couple of years.

(David L. Dunner interviewed by Thomas A. Ban; Volume 7.)

ENDICOTT (1975)

Regier: That was an incredibly important period for classification, the defining of disorders, and for the development of methods for assessing disorders in large scale studies.

Endicott : During that period, also, I was very lucky. First, I got to come to ACNP a lot as a guest of Joe Zubin or Bob Spitzer. Of course, I was attending the ACNP meetings, and it was partially because of that FDA experience that I became a member of the ACNP. I always say I was very lucky that I came along in the seventies because when I look at who is getting into the ACNP now it probably wouldn’t happen to me.

Regier: Were there any honors, awards or distinctions that came along with any of this work?

Endicott: I considered becoming a member of the ACNP one of the best.

(Jean Endicott interviewed by Darrel A. Regier; Volume 7.)

FIBIGER (1976)

Ban: If you could say something about the ACNP. When did you become a member?

Fibiger: I joined ACNP very early in my career. I felt very privileged to get into the ACNP. I think I must have been one of the very few Canadians who were accepted for membership, and I think I was accepted in 1976, so 17, 18 years ago. And I think I have attended just about every meeting since then. Without question, if I could only go to one meeting every year, it would be the annual meeting of the ACNP. I had the privilege of serving as the journal editor for Neuropsychopharmacology for a few years. Unfortunately, I had to give that up when I joined industry. But I enjoyed doing that very much, and I was honored to contribute in that way. And I’ve been on Council for the last three years. Today, in fact, is my last Council meeting. And that’s been a lot of fun too. So, I felt very close to the College and I’ve, without exception, enjoyed my interactions.

(H. Christian. Fibiger interviewed by Thomas A. Ban; Volume 3.)

FUXE (1994)

Ban: You started to attend ACNP meetings quite a number of years ago?

Fuxe: Yes, thanks to my old friend Menek Goldstein. He brought me into the ACNP.

Ban: Do you remember when approximately?

Fuxe: I became a member in 1994 but Menek invited me to participate in ACNP panels already in the 1960s, and 1970s. The ACNP meeting was in Puerto Rico at the time when I was young. I still remember how much I enjoyed the meetings.

(Kjell G. Fuxe interviewed by Thomas A. Ban; Volume 4.)

GALLANT (1963)

Ban: How did you become a member of ACNP?

Gallant: We had published about 25 papers at that point in 1963. I guess thst’s what helped me to be admitted to the ACNP.

(Don Gallant interviewed by Thomas A. Ban;Volume 4)

GARDOS (1987)

Ban: When were you elected a member to the ACNP?

Gardos: In 1987, I am honored to be a member of ACNP and I look forward to attending the Aannual Mmeetings. I think this organization has done tremendous work for science and patients.

(George Gardos interviewed by Thomas A. Ban; Volume 4.)

GOLDSTEIN (1967)

Ban: Tell us something about the different organizations you are involved with?

Goldstein: I often get asked which, is my most important organization, when people come into my office, and I say, “It’s the one where I don’t have a diploma hanging up, the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology”.

Ban: Of all your contributions, which one do you think was the most important?

Goldstein: My work with symptomatic volunteers. I think that at the national level, my involvement has been very much with the ECDEU and with the ACNP. I’ve been on various committees at the College over the years. I tend to be a sort of low-key person.

(Burton J. Goldsein interviewed by Thomas A. Ban; Volme 4.)

GREDEN (1985)

Ban: You have also been active in the ACNP.

Greden: I have been on the council now for several years and before that I was serving on the advocacy and the publications committees. I was also asked by the council to be a senior administrative editor and help to revise and restructure the college’s publications. I was involved in the selection of the right people as editors for The Fifth Generation of Progress. We brought in Ken Davis, Dennis Charney, Joe Coyle and Charlie Nemeroff to edit the book and Jim Meador-Woodruff in doing the scientific web site of the ACNP Journal. I ended up having Bob Lenox in the role of journal editor. Now Charlie Nemeroff is doing it.

Ban: When did you become a member of the ACNP?

Greden: It was sometime in the ‘70s. I became a Fellow, probably, about a decade ago.

Ban: Would you like to comment on the annual meetings?

Greden: The annual ACNP meetings have always been highlights for me. I remember when the teaching days started. The college has much to be proud of when it looks back on its past and membership.

(John F. Greden interviewed by Thomas A. Ban; Volume 5.)

HOGARTY (1982)

Tone: You’re so enthusiastic about the introduction of new medications.

Hogarty: These treatments wouldn’t have been possible without medication, so, that’s why I’ve always stayed close to ACNP. I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for ACNP. It’s been a privilege and it’s been fun, for the most part.

(Gerard E. Hogarty interviewed by Andrea Tone; Volume 4.)

HOLZMAN (1994)

Ban: When and how did you get involved with ACNP?

Holzman: That was through Danny Freedman. I had been invited to give a talk at an annual meeting. I forget what it was on, and I saw Danny holding court here, and I liked the people. I liked the activity. I liked the knowledge-exchange that was going on here. It was exciting. I thought, I want to be part of this. Danny said, “Not yet. You’re not ready”. But then I was ready, and I was so pleased to become a member and then a fellow, and it has been of enormous importance to me.

(Philip S. Holzman interviewed by Thomas A. Ban; Volume 2.)

IVERSEN (1984)

Ban: When did you attend the first meeting of the ACNP?

Iversen: I think in the 1970s. I was invited to one of the catecholamine sessions, but I wasn’t a member until the mid-1980s. And since then I’ve been a fairly regular attendee. And, I find it very beneficial, coming just to hear what’s going on in the field. It’s one of the best places for finding out what’s going on.

(Leslie L. Iversen interviewed by Thomas A. Ban; Volume 3.)

JESTE (1984)

Ban: When did you become a member of ACNP?

Jeste: A long time back. I do not remember the year; it was the early 1980s, maybe 1983 or so. I was very fortunate to be selected a member the first time I applied. The ACNP is a wonderful organization. It makes you very humble because you see how smart other ACNP members are.

Ban: Am I correct that you are the president of a new organization?

Jeste: Yes. I wanted something that was like ACNP but international, and focusing on geriatric psychiatry. So, we founded the International College of Geriatric Psychoneuropharmacology, While similar to the ACNP in being restricted to researchers, it will not be so exclusive in terms of the membership selection.

(Dilip V. Jeste interviewed by Thomas A. Ban; Volume 7.)

KAUFMAN (1982)

Ban: When did you become a member of ACNP?

Kaufman: Maybe 15 years ago.

Ban: Have you participated in the activities of the College?

Kaufman: I regret to say I have not.

Ban: Did you attend the annual meetings?

Kaufman: Yes, I attend the meetings religiously.

Ban: Did you present at the annual meetings?

Kaufman: I was invited several times. I presented a few years ago at the symposium on tyrosine hydroxylates. Steve Paul organized it and I gave a lecture.

(Seymous Kaufman interviewed by Thomas A. Ban; Volume 7.)

KREEK (1986)

Gold: When did you actually become a member of the ACNP? And, tell us a little bit about serving on some of the committees of the College.

Kreek: Sure. Having served twice on the Credentials Committee, I’m almost embarrassed to say into the camera, but I’ll say it, that I did not know how formidable and difficult it was to become a member, but I was nominated by some very strong people and I became a member in 1985, and I became a Fellow in 1993. I’m completing my second tour on Council. The first tour was a short tour, filling in for someone, but this has been a full elected tour. I also have been on, not only the Credentials Committee twice, but also on the Liaison Committee and the Patient Advocates Committee, and I’m happy to let everyone know that I’m now on the Human Research Committee, so I’ve been very active. I think ACNP is just an incredibly important organization with very exciting science and proper sharing, but like CPDD, they also, I think, perceive the need, and we constantly need to remember this, to nurture young scientists, both bench and clinical, and those do both.

(Mary Jean Kreek interviewed by Lisa Gold; Volume 6.)