Over 75 researchers, clinicians, educators and supporters attended the third annual meeting of the Garvey Institute for Brain Health Solutions held today at South Lake Union. Mike and Lynn Garvey who established the Institute with a $ 50 million foundational gift and their daughter Denise Tabbutt and grandson Owen Tabbutt were in the audience as well as Garvey Institute Community Advisory Board members, Garvey Institute endowed professors and members of our Faculty Advisory Groups. Jürgen Unützer, MD, MPH, MA, Director of the Institute, emceed the event.
The meeting provided an overview of the Garvey Institute’s work over the past four years in two broad categories: inspiring and supporting the next generation of scientists and health care professionals to work together on improving mental health, and developing better solutions for tomorrow.
The first session shone a spotlight on our new Clinician Scientist Training Program. Jesse Fann, MD, MPH, gave an overview of the program, Jackie Hobbs, MD, PhD, talked about the importance of the program in advancing psychiatry residency training, and trainees Katharine Liang, MD, PhD, Daniel W. Fisher MD, PhD, and Hai-Uyen Nguyen, MD, presented on their projects funded by the new Clinician Scientist Training Program Trainee Research Awards designed to provide small grants to encourage trainees to explore or pursue careers as clinician scientists.
The second session focused on innovations in interventional psychiatry and state-of-the art neuromodulation treatments. Randall Espinoza, MD, MPH, Medical Director of the ECT and Interventional Psychiatry Program at UCLA, gave a terrific talk about how these approaches could reach their full potential and how the new Garvey Institute Center for Neuromodulation at UWMC Northwest can support innovation in research and clinical care.
The meeting also provided an overview of the 48 projects funded by Garvey Institute Innovation Grants in the areas of cognitive aging, addictions, trauma, technology and brain health, adolescent and young adult mental health, and partnerships that develop and test innovative ways to extend the impact of mental health professionals in Washington. Investigators supported by these grants come from 25 departments in ten schools and colleges across all three UW campuses. The meeting focused on projects supported by the last round of Innovation Grant funding aimed at finding new ways to engage and support family members and caregivers as part of the health care team. Mollie Forrester, MSW, LICSW, and Anna Ratzliff, MD, PhD, talked about a new training pilot associated with the Family and Caregiver Academy that will be housed at the Center for Behavioral Health and Learning, Maria Monroe-DeVita, PhD, presented on a Family Bridger pilot her team is testing at Harborview inpatient units, and Dr. Ratzliff presented on a project led by Dana Dieringer, MD, about ways in which we can teach our residents to engage more successfully with family members of patients.
The day ended with a workshop on developing Research Centers for Novel Therapeutics: Marco Pravetoni, PhD, Rick L. Seaver Endowed Professor for Brain Wellness, talked about his efforts to develop a Center for Medication Development for Substance Use Disorders and Overdose, and Nathan Sackett, MD, MS, talked about the development of our new Center for Novel Therapeutics in Addiction Psychiatry.
A big THANKS to all speakers and participants and especially to our outstanding Institute staff led by Becky Sladek, MS, and Andie Uomoto, MPA, with help from Mary Pyper, Kyreston Jones and Mike Walker for a well-organized and successful day.
To learn more about the Institute’s work, visit gibhs.psychiatry.uw.edu or view a recording of the annual meeting.