Prodromal
Research Program
The primary goal of the Prevention Research
Program is to provide prodromal participants with a structured, high
quality clinical
care setting within which the Center research can take place. The
objectives
of this core are to recruit patients with prodromal symptoms and
demographically comparable healthy controls, to conduct diagnostic
and screening evaluations of potential participants to determine
study eligibility and to coordinate their participation in the
Center’s
projects. Prevention Research Program Investigators include, Tyrone
Cannon, Ph.D., Mary O’Brien, Ph.D., Carrie Bearden, Ph.D.,
Melita Daley, M.D., Joseph Pierre, M.D., Alex Kopelowicz, M.D.
For more detailed information about the Prevention Research Program
please visit www.capps.ucla.edu.
Aftercare
Research Program Core
The Aftercare Research Program is an outpatient research clinic
that provides the clinical site for the recruitment, pharmacological
and psychosocial interventions, and assessments of symptoms and functional
outcome for first-episode patients who are participating in research
projects in this Center. The primary mission of the Aftercare Research
Program is to provide a structured and high quality clinical care
setting within which this Center research can take place. The Aftercare
Research Program provides a centralized and standardized process
for screening and diagnosing first-episode schizophrenia patient
participants, providing their clinical services and completing high-quality
longitudinal assessments of symptoms, work functioning, and social
functioning. For more information about the Aftercare Research Program,
please visit www.schizophrenia.ucla.edu/aftercare.
Chronic Schizophrenia Recruitment and Assessment
Core
The primary function of the Chronic Schizophrenia Recruitment and
Assessment Core is to recruit and clinically assess chronic schizophrenia
patients and demographically comparable normal subjects for participation
in studies of the Center. This Core screens, recruits and conducts
diagnostic interview with the potential patient subjects and the
normal comparison subjects. This Core also completes ratings of symptom
severity and functional outcome for all chronic schizophrenia patients
who participate in Center projects.
Diagnosis
and Symptom Assessment Core
The Diagnosis and Symptom Assessment Core is led by Joseph Ventura, Ph.D. The
primary goal of this Core is to provide specialized diagnostic and psychiatric
symptom assessment training and quality assurance procedures to projects and
Cores within the Translational Center for Neurocognition and Emotion in Schizophrenia.
The Core trains interviewers who conduct screening and diagnostic evaluation
of patients across three phases of illness in the Prevention Research Program,
the Aftercare Research Program, and the Chronic Schizophrenia Recruitment and
Assessment Core.
Functional
Outcomes Core
The Functional Outcomes Core led by John Brekke, Ph.D. provides a range of service
functions for the Center’s scientific activities. The Core provides the
Center with the best strategies for measuring psychosocial and functional outcomes
for individuals with schizophrenia. In addition, the Core focuses on continued
development and psychometric testing of measures relevant to functional outcomes
in schizophrenia.
Data
and Methodology Core
The Data and Methodology Core is led by the Interim Director Catherine Sugar,
Ph.D. Dr. Sugar and
her
staff at the Semel Institute Biostatistics Core (SIStat) provide methodological
and
statistical consulting, and specialized programming ongoing consultation to Center
researchers on data analysis, design of new projects, and conduct of ongoing
experiments. The Core is responsible for creating and maintaining the Center’s
centralized database as a repository of Center data, and will provide requisite
software interfaces to enable Center researchers to enter data reliably, access
readily and analyze data properly.
Administration
and Training Core
The Administration and Training Core serves the daily administrative needs of
the Center. This Core involves Dr. Nuechterlein as Center PI, four other UCLA
faculty members who as Center Co-PIs (Drs. Asarnow, Cannon, Green, and Yee-Bradbury),
and a full-time administrative analyst (Fe Asuan). Dr. Nuechterlein is ultimately
responsible for the direction, administration, and fiscal management of the Center.
Drs. Asarnow, Cannon, Green, and Yee-Bradbury play key administrative roles in
the Center, aiding Dr. Nuechterlein in overall coordination activities and the
major administrative and management tasks that require faculty involvement. These
faculty members also coordinate the research career development activities of
the Center, including aiding in the recruitment of appropriate trainees for an
existing NIMH-supported Training Grant, "Psychological Research on Schizophrenic
Conditions." The pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees supported by these
Training Grants (PI: K. Nuechterlein) are encouraged to pursue translational
behavioral
research through
affiliation with this Center. Under the supervision of Dr. Nuechterlein, Fe Asuan
is responsible for organizing and sustaining the grant management, fiscal, personnel,
and purchasing activities of the Center. She serves as a primary contact for
the Center investigators and staff for routine administrative issues. She oversees
the routine operations of the Center’s Administrative Office, as well as
all “professional relations” activities, such as the Center website
and arrangements for presentations by Center investigators.
Copyright
2006 Center for Neurocognition and Emotion in Schizophrenia all rights
reserved.
Prodromal
Research Program
