Nearly 100 patients, families and mental health professionals learned about the advances in neurosciences and treatment of schizophrenia at the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the STEP Symposium, April 14, 2018, at the UNC William and Ida Friday Center.
John Gilmore, MD, a founder of the Symposium and director of the Center, hosted the morning event.
The Symposium featured Lisa Dixon MD, MPH, and Daniel Weinberger, MD.
Dixon, professor of psychiatry and director, Division of Behavioral Health Services, Columbia University Medical Center; director, Center for Practice Innovations (CPI), New York State Psychiatric Institute, presented “Goldilocks and the Three Bears Redux: What is JUST RIGHT as science moves to practice?”
Weinberger, professor of psychiatry, neurology, neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Institute of Genetic Medicine; director and CEO, Lieber Institute for Brain Development presented “Genomic insights about the neurodevelopmental origins of schizophrenia.”
In another session, Gilmore and Thava Mahadevan, MS, director, Operations, and the Center’s recovery programs discussed various treatment programs at the Center.
The program closed with a panel discussion “The future of treating schizophrenia” with Dixon, Weinberger, and Gilmore joining Fredrik Jarskog, MD, director, North Carolina Psychiatric Research Center and Lorna Moser, PhD, director, UNC Institute for Best Practices.
“We are extremely proud of what we have accomplished over the last 25 years in the STEP Program and the Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health to provide the best treatment possible for patients with schizophrenia and related disorders,” said Gilmore. “It is amazing to look back and see how our understanding of schizophrenia and its treatment has changed, and exciting to look forward and anticipate continuing to be at the forefront of improved care.”