2005 NARSAD Sunshine from Darkness Palm Beach Symposium
The second annual NARSAD Sunshine from Darkness Scientific Symposium in Palm Beach, Florida, was held on February 5, at the Palm Beach Convention Center. The symposium was moderated by Wade Berrettini, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania, and featured Jeffrey Lieberman, M.D., of Columbia University, and Perry Renshaw, M.D., Ph.D., of Harvard University, with concluding remarks presented by Dr. James Watson, Nobel Prize Winner, and the co-discoverer of the structure of DNA. The free event was standing room only, and offered the most cutting edge advances in the research of psychiatric brain disorders. A special thanks is extended to Columbia Hospital for offering CEU credits for this event.

2005 Second Annual Mission Possible NARSAD Symposium--Washington, D.C.
The second annual Mission Possible Weekend to fund mental health research raised over $250,000 – with every dollar going directly to fund research grants. Sponsored by NARSAD of Greater Washington, D.C., the organization’s fundraising reception and GALA on April 16, was followed by a free public symposium on April 17, highlighting some of the latest research developments.

Some of the latest research developments made possible by NARSAD grants were presented to over 500 attendees at Sunday’s free public scientific symposium. Moderated by Kay Redfield Jamison, Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the program included Husseini K. Manji, M.D., National Institute of Mental Health (affective disorders); Daniel S. Pine, M.D., National Institute of Mental Health (childhood psychiatric disorders); Adelaide S. Robb, M.D., George Washington University’s Children’s National Medical Center (childhood and adult eating disorders); and Daniel R. Weinberger, M.D., National Institute of Mental Health (schizophrenia).

NARSAD/Sidney R. Baer, Jr. Foundation 2nd Annual St. Louis Symposium
The second annual NARSAD Scientific Symposium sponsored by the Sidney R. Baer, Jr. Foundation was held June 20, 2005, in St. Louis, the city of Mr. Baer’s birth, at the Ritz Carlton Hotel, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The symposium moderator was Carol Tamminga, M.D., of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Professor of Psychiatry. Presentations were made by John Newcomer, M.D., Kevin Black, M.D., Deanna Barch, Ph.D., and Kelly Botteron, M.D., all researchers from Washington University School of Medicine who have received or are currently receiving NARSAD support.

Hope Through Research Weekend
NARSAD’s first Washington Scientific Symposium was held on Sunday, February 8, 2004, at George Washington University.

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Palm Beach Gala & Scientific Symposium
The first Palm Beach Scientific Symposium featured four renowned scientists who discussed their cutting-edge research on mood disorders and schizophrenia and was held Saturday, February 28, 2004, from 9 a.m. - 12 noon, at the Norton Museum of Art. Download the Transcript (PDF)

Moderated by Wade Berrettini, M.D., Ph.D.,
the Karl E. Rickles Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Center for Neuobiology and Behavior at the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, the symposium featured presentations by: Dolores Malaspina, M.D., of Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute (schizophrenia); Caryn Lerman, Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania, (nicotine dependence/psychiatric illness); Herbert Y. Meltzer, M.D., of Vanderbilt University, (new generation of antipsychotic drugs); William Z. Potter, M.D., Ph.D., of Lilly Reserach Laboratories of Eli Lilly and Company, (drug discoveries in the genomic era).

NARSAD's Scientific Symposium About the Brain & Behavior Honors New Alliance
ST. LOUIS - March 23, 2004—Sidney R. Baer, Jr., would have been proud to know his foundation was partnering with the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) to support research about mental illness.
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Mr. Baer, a member of the well-known family who founded the Stix Baer & Fuller department store chain in Missouri, established the Sidney R. Baer Foundation shortly before his death in 2002, at 84 years old, to stimulate education, research and direct care in the mental health field.

A businessman and consultant, Mr. Baer personally faced mental health challenges during his life and sought to alleviate suffering of those afflicted with mental illness. In its short existence, the foundation has supported certain mental health care programs, but now, for the first time, it is collaborating with NARSAD--the largest donor-supported organization in the world devoted exclusively to funding scientific research on psychiatric disorders--to fund basic and clinical research in mental illness. The foundation provided NARSAD $400,000 in support for 2004.

To honor the new and productive relationship between the Sidney R. Baer Foundation and NARSAD, the two organizations co-sponsored a special scientific symposium on Tuesday, March 23, 2004, titled “New Discoveries in Brain and Behavior Research,” in St. Louis, the city of Mr. Baer’s birth.

The symposium moderator was Dennis Charney, M.D., chief of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Research Program at the National Institute of Mental Health. Presentations were made by John Newcomer, M.D., Yvette Sheline, M.D., and John Olney, M.D., researchers from Washington University School of Medicine who have received or are currently receiving NARSAD support.

The Sidney R. Baer Foundation is very excited about its alliance with NARSAD and delighted to honor Mr. Baer’s vision. “Mr. Baer's mission was to help individuals afflicted with schizophrenia, depression and other mental health challenges,” says Mr. Mitchell L. West, vice president, charitable services, of U.S. Bank, of St. Louis, and co-trustee of the foundation. “By becoming one of NARSAD's partners, the Sidney R. Baer Foundation will be able to support exciting and innovative research that it could not possibly do as a sole foundation. Mr. Baer very much believed in such partnering efforts. It is only by such research as is supported by NARSAD that the future medications, care options and potential cures will be discovered.”

Mr. George Handran, Mr. Baer’s personal attorney for 22 years and foundation co-trustee, explains that the Sidney R. Baer Foundation is not set up to evaluate proposals for medical research, but NARSAD is specifically organized for the purpose of raising and distributing funds for scientific research into the causes, cures, treatments and prevention of severe psychiatric brain disorders, such as schizophrenia and depression.

“NARSAD has the scientific expertise, infrastructure and history to provide money for the support of research,” Mr. Handran says. “We thought we could leverage our resources most effectively by joining forces with NARSAD.”

NARSAD is also energized by its new relationship with the Sidney R. Baer Foundation “We are thankful the Sidney R. Baer Foundation has decided to extend its support to NARSAD,” says Constance E. Lieber, NARSAD president and CEO. “We look forward to a warm, long and fruitful relationship.”