Psychiatry Symposium To Address Collaborations In Mood Disorder Research, Treatments

The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine will hold its 24th Annual Mood Disorders Research and Education Symposium on April 20, focusing on joint efforts between researchers and clinicians to study and treat depression and bipolar disease.


Speakers on these topics from Hopkins and elsewhere will give talks from 12:45 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Turner Auditorium on Johns Hopkins Medicine's East Baltimore campus.


Among the presenters:


- Col. Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, M.D., adult and forensic psychiatrist and medical director of the Army Medical Department's Office of Strategic Communications. An internationally recognized expert, she brings a public health approach to the management of disaster- and combat-related mental health issues. She will address the challenges of recognizing and treating mood disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder in the military communit


- Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, co-director of the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Center, and an internationally recognized author. She will offer a historical perspective on mood disorders focusing on the biography of 19th century poet Nathaniel Hawthorne.


- James Potash, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will describe current collaborative efforts to understand the underlying causes of mood disorders through genetic research. His recent research includes the identification of a novel genetic component in major depression, found by analyzing data from three major genetic studies of mood disorders.



Other speakers include Karen Swartz, M.D., director of the Mood Disorders Clinical Programs at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; John Greden, M.D., former chair of psychiatry at the University of Michigan, founder of the Michigan Depression Center, and founding chair of the National Network of Depression Centers; Frank DeGruy, M.D., M.S.F.M., professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine and director of primary care outreach and research at the University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine; and David A. Axelson, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and director of the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Services Program at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.


Mood disorders are among the most common illnesses in the world. An estimated 20 percent of adults suffer from depression or bipolar disorder.


Intended for psychiatrists, social workers, psychologists and counselors, the symposium is also open to patients, family members and anyone who has an interest in learning more about bipolar disorders and recurrent depression.


The symposium is presented by the Johns Hopkins Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, the Johns Hopkins Mood Disorders Center and the Institute for Johns Hopkins Nursing.

Source
Johns Hopkins Medicine