SAN FRANCISCO ¾ The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) has selected three dedicated investigators to receive the 2002 Gerald L. Klerman Research Award.

Long-time mental health researcher K. Ranga R. Krishnan, M.D., is the recipient of the Klerman Senior Investigator Award, and two emerging leaders in mental health, Mark Frye, M.D., and Jurgen Unutzer, M.D., M.S.H.S., each earned the Young Investigator Award for separate research. The awards recognize innovative research to understand the causes, diagnosis and treatment of depression and bipolar illnesses.

Dr. Krishnan is professor and chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina and one of the foremost clinicians in treating treatment-refractory depression and anxiety disorders.

Dr. Krishnan exemplifies the qualities embodied by the Klerman Award through his contributions in clinical service, as an educator and in research. He was among the first to recognize the potential of magnetic resonance spectroscopy for psychiatry, and quickly became an preeminent leader in this emerging field, particularly as it shed light on psychiatric diseases associated with aging.

Dr. Krishnan’s areas of expertise range from mathematical considerations in clinical trial design and analysis of state-of-the-art functional brain imaging in studies of psychopharmacological agents, and he has most recently focused his energies on the examination of bipolar disorder in late-life.

Young Investigator awardee, Dr. Mark Frye’s research contributions include the demonstration of important gender differences in bipolar patients with comorbid alcoholism. Currently, he is an assistant professor of psychiatry in residence of the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the UCLA School of Medicine in Los Angeles, California.

Dr. Frye founded DBSA’s UCLA support group in 1994 and has continued his involvement with the group as its professional advisor. He has authored or co-authored more than 38 peer-reviewed articles in premier medical journals such as the American Journal of Psychiatry. He displays outstanding clinical skills and community service as associate director of the Mood Disorders Research Program at UCLA, where he oversees 12 research studies in addition to his clinical work with bipolar patients.

A close colleague of Dr. Frye, Dr. Jurgen Unutzer, also is an associate professor in residence of the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the UCLA School of Medicine. His research is revolutionizing mental health research and geropsychiatry, with an emphasis on improving care for depression in the elderly.

Dr. Unutzer won the Article of the Year Award from the International Geropsychiatric Association for an article comparing the effect of late-life depression on quality adjusted year to that of chronic medical disorders. He has served as a lead investigator in studies concerning major depression, dysthymia and bipolar disorder. Most notably, Dr. Unutzer spearheaded the first randomized trial of the effectiveness of quality improvement interventions for depressed elderly in primary care.

"The Klerman Awards demonstrate DBSA’s commitment to recognize the critical role researchers play in uncovering the causes and innovative ways to treat people living with mood disorders," said Dennis S. Charney, M.D., Chairman of National DBSA’s Scientific Advisory Board, and Chief of the Mood and Anxiety Disorder Program and Experimental Therapeutics and Pathophysiology Branch at The National Institute of Mental Health. "We know that their efforts will one day lead to improved care and well-being for millions of patients worldwide," added Charney.

The awards were presented May 19, 2003 at DBSA’s Annual Scientific Advisory Board luncheon, held during the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association.

The awards are named in honor of Gerald L. Klerman, who was professor and associate chairman of research at Cornell University Hospital Medical College. Dr. Klerman’s research endeavors have had an enormous impact on the understanding of the diagnosis and treatment of mood disorders.