We achieved one of our strongest years in grant funding, and we’ve seen growth in our clinical, research, and educational programs. Our faculty and staff have been working tirelessly to improve mental health care and advance our scientific understanding of psychiatric disorders.
Mount Sinai CARES, our program in partnership with the New York City Department of Education for providing mental health and substance-abuse treatments for high school youths, now has a bigger presence. It moved to a larger space late last year to be able to accommodate more students and is planning on expanding its outreach to other schools this year.
At the Behavioral Health Center, which celebrated its two-year anniversary in July, we opened eight Extended Observation Beds in October and are preparing to launch the Intensive Crisis Residence this December. This year we also launched Behavioral Health Express Care, which provides walk-in services such as short-term counseling, referrals and admissions to outpatient or inpatient mental health and substance-use treatment, and medication management if needed.
In clinical research, we were leaders in studies for novel treatments for hard-to-treat conditions. Alexander Kolevzon, MD, is a primary investigator in a gene therapy for autism associated with Phelan-McDermid Syndrome—a first-in-kind treatment—and James Murrough, MD, PhD, has been advancing his pioneering work in ezogabine for use in major depressive disorder, exploring novel pathways for patients for whom traditional antidepressants might not be effective enough. These published studies are included in detail in the report.
The achievements of our Department are possible thanks to our faculty and staff, and our philanthropic partners. Because of philanthropic support to The Seaver Center, the Jeff and Lisa Blau Adolescent Consultation Center for Resilience and Treatment, The Parsons Research Center for Psychedelic Healing, we can push important clinical trials forward and pursue research that is truly life-changing for patients and their families.
I look forward to another year of training the next leaders in psychiatry, conducting cutting-edge research, and ensuring our patients have access to the most advanced and effective treatments available.
Featured
René S. Kahn, MD, PhD
Esther and Joseph Klingenstein Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health