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Pittsburgh Hosts XIII Annual Meeting of the
International College of Geriatric Psychoneuropharmacology

Pittsburgh recently welcomed scientists from across the globe as the host of the XIII Annual Meeting of the International College of Geriatric Psychoneuropharmacology (ICGP), which took place at the University Club on the University of Pittsburgh Oakland campus.  This year?s meeting was coordinated by two members of the Department of Psychiatry faculty, Charles Reynolds, III, MD (Meeting Chair) and Meryl Butters, PhD (Scientific Program Chair).  The ICGP?s mission is to further clinical care, research and education in geriatric psychoneuropharmacology by fostering cross-fertilization of scientific knowledge among clinical and preclinical scientists from different but related disciplines.

Focusing on the theme ?Toward Healthy Brain Aging?, the 2 1/2 ?day meeting featured a poster session and 56 speakers participating in 15 symposia covering topics including biological aging of the brain in health and neuropsychiatric disorders, a population perspective on risk factors for cognitive decline in older adults, mapping brain networks relating to mood in late-life depression and anxiety, and novel treatment options for late-life psychiatric syndromes.  In addition, the ICGP sponsored a training day for recipients of the organization?s Junior Investigator Awards that offered presentations on career development from internationally recognized leaders in the field including Dr. Reynolds and John O?Brien, MD of Cambridge University in the United Kingdom.  The session also highlighted the career path and research of two other Department of Psychiatry senior researchers, Mary Ganguli, MD and Bill Klunk, MD, PhD, who later joined the other program faculty for an interactive session with junior investigators to address specific career development topics and offer advice on future growth.

?The meeting, as always, provided investigators with a unique opportunity for cross-fertilization of scientific ideas by connecting with other researchers in related fields in an intimate atmosphere that fosters growth and development of novel research directions,? said Dr. Butters.

Dr. Sachdev presents Dr. Skoog with the ICGP Senior Investigator Award

As part of the festivities, ICGP President Perminder Sachdev, MD, PhD, of University of New South Wales, Australia presented Ingmar Skoog, MD, PhD, of Gothenburg University, Sweden, with the ICGP Senior Investigator Award in recognition of his outstanding scientific contributions to tour understanding of dementia and other mental disorders in the elderly - particularly his research on the relation between cardiovascular disorders, Alzheimer's disease and late-life depression ? and for his mentorship of young scientists and his leadership in the field.