October 19 & 20, 2007
NARSAD’s Annual New York Gala and Free, Public Symposium Focus Attention on “Healing Children’s Minds”
The Waldorf-Astoria and New York Times Center
New York City

NARSAD, the world's leading charity dedicated to mental health research, will host its annual New York City gala awards dinner and two-day public symposium on new findings in research on October 19 and 20.

NARSAD’s New York City Gala Awards Dinner

NARSAD’s gala dinner dance, taking place Friday, October 19, at the Waldorf Astoria, will celebrate the organization’s 20th year of funding cutting-edge research on serious mental illnesses. As in past years, NARSAD will award its top prizes for achievement in psychiatric research at the gala, which is dedicated this year to raising awareness of the broad-based effort to understand and develop effective treatments for psychiatric illnesses afflicting children and adolescents.

This year’s gala will also honor the seminal role of NARSAD’s outgoing president Connie Lieber, who led the organization for the last 18 years. In keeping with its theme of “Healing Children’s Minds,” NARSAD will recognize leadership in childhood mental health by awarding its first Children’s Mental Health Award to KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to creating suitable places to play within walking distance of every child in America.

The evening will be graced with a performance by members of the Metropolitan Opera Children’s Chorus. The Bob Hartwick Orchestra will provide music for dancing.

The Waldorf Astoria is located in Manhattan at Park Avenue and 49th Street. Cocktails will start at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner, the awards program and dancing. Tickets, which begin at $600, are available by contacting events@narsad.org, or by calling NARSAD at 516-829-0091 or 800-829-8289.

Click here for more details on the gala.

NARSAD’s 19th Annual New York City Mental Health Symposium

On Friday and Saturday, October 19 and 20, NARSAD is hosting a free public symposium on some of the latest developments in mental health research. The symposium takes place in two distinct sessions at The New York Times Center, 242 West 41st Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues. Seating is limited, and reservations are recommended. To reserve, please e-mail events@narsad.org or call NARSAD at 516-829-0091 or 800-829-8289.

The Friday symposium session, “Healing Children’s Minds: Childhood and Adolescent Disorders,” features updates on efforts to understand and treat such childhood and adolescent disorders as early-onset schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder and ADHD (attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder) and autism. In Saturday’s session, “New Directions in Research,” top NARSAD Young Investigators will discuss novel areas of research, such as the relation between stress and illness; a new treatment for bipolar II disorder; genetic insights about schizophrenia and epilepsy; and study of a brain malfunction that may play an important role in both bipolar disorder and Alzheimer’s disease.

Friday, October 19th, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
“Healing Children’s Minds: Childhood and Adolescent Disorders”

MODERATOR
Robert M. A. Hirschfeld, M.D.
Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences,
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston

PRESENTERS
Karen D. Wagner, M.D., Ph.D.
University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
“Key Insights About Depression and Bipolar Disorder”

Daniel Pine, M.D.
National Institute of Mental Health
“What Research Teaches Us About Childhood Anxiety”

B. J. Casey, Ph.D.
Weill Cornell Medical College
“New Findings on the Causes and Treatment of ADHD”

Judith Rapoport, M.D.
National Institute of Mental Health
“Research Update on Childhood Schizophrenia”

Ami Klin, Ph.D.
Yale Child Study Center/Yale University
“Screening for Autism in First Months of Life”


Saturday, October 20th, 10 a.m. - 1 p.m.
“New Directions in Psychiatric Research”

MODERATOR
Herbert Pardes, M.D.
President and CEO, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital
President, Scientific Council, NARSAD

COMMENTATOR
Jack D. Barchas, M.D.
Chair of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell Medical College
Psychiatrist-in-Chief, New York-Presbyterian Hospital

PRESENTERS

Elisabeth Binder, M.D., Ph.D.
Emory University/Max-Planck Institute of Psychiatry
“Childhood Trauma and Stress-Related Illness”

Carole Weaver, Ph.D.
University of California, San Diego
“Neural Communication Malfunction and Its Link to Bipolar Disorder and Alzheimer’s Disease”

Holly A. Swartz, M.D.
Western Psychiatric Institute/University of Pittsburgh
“A Novel Psychiatric Treatment for Bipolar II Disorder”

Kameel M. Karkar, M.D.
University of California, San Francisco
“Gene Mutations, Abnormal Brain Development, and the Onset of Schizophrenia and Epilepsy”

Daphne J. Holt, M.D., Ph.D.
Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard University
“Causes and Early Identification of Psychosis”

Reservations and additional information at events@narsad.org and 516-829-0091 or 800-829-8289.

Click here for more details on the symposium.