In Memoriam

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John Gary Csernansky, 1954–2022 (PDF)

John G. Csernansky, Fellow Emeritus of ACNP, died on May 23, 2022 at the age of 68. John was accepted into membership in 1987 and was a member of the council from 2010 to 2012. He was viewed as a transformative, thoughtful, and supportive leader by his faculty. He truly embodied a servant leader approach to his role as Chair. John dedicated his professional life to educating and training the next generation of clinicians and scientists. He mentored numerous students, residents, and faculty. He was consistently involved in teaching seminars to Northwestern’s psychiatry residents. When the current residents were asked to reflect on their experiences with John, they remarked they were grateful to have learned from such an inspiring and approachable physician scientist who regarded his role as an educator as a privilege. They looked to him as a role model who continued to be a lifelong learner regardless of his numerous accolades.

Jan Fawcett, 1934-2022 (PDF)

Jan Fawcett died on May 9, 2022 at the age of 88 following a long period of declining health. He was an extraordinary leader and innovator in psychiatry, primarily in the area of mood disorders. At the time of his death he was a professor at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine. Many of his research contributions came from his work as principal investigator of the Chicago site of the Clinical Studies of the NIMH Psychobiology of Depression Research Program. Jan was an outstanding advocate for the mentally ill.

Marc Caron, 1946–2022 (PDF)

Marc Caron, Member Emeritus of ACNP died on April 25, 2022 at the age of 75. Marc joined ACNP in 2004 and contributed through his career to the mission of the College, where he and his trainees frequently presented their work. Marc received his BSc in Chemistry from Laval University and his PhD from the University of Miami. He came to Duke as one of Bob Lefkowitz’ first postdoctoral associates and then was recruited to the Laval University School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor in 1975. He returned to Duke in 1977 for 45 of the 47 years of his distinguished career, achieving the rank of James B Duke Professor of Cell Biology, and Professor of Neurobiology and Medicine. His life’s work was to investigate the mechanisms of neurotransmitter transporters and GPCR receptors which could be exploited as potential pharmacotherapies for neurologic and psychiatric diseases including Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, attention deficit disorder, mood disorders and addiction.

Charles L. Bowden, 1939-2022 (PDF)

Charles L. Bowden, MD made major contributions to our knowledge about pharmacological treatments for bipolar disorder. His entire career was spent as a faculty member of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, at which he ultimately became the chair. He retired in 2017. He published nearly 500 peer-reviewed articles on a variety of topics. His primary professional focus was on mood disorders, bipolar disorder, in particular. Prior to his research the only FDAapproved treatment for bipolar disorder was lithium, and there had been no placebo-controlled studies of lithium published for 20 years. Although there had been some research on several anticonvulsants for mania, his study was the first multicenter placebo-controlled trial of any treatment for mania.

Thomas A. Ban, 1929-2022 (PDF)

Born in Budapest in November 1929, Tom studied medicine at Semmelweis University from 1948 to 1954 and trained in psychiatry at the National Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology from 1954 to 1956. Because of the Hungarian uprising he emigrated to Canada, serving as a rotating intern in 1957–58 at the Victoria General Hospital in Halifax, and as a resident psychiatrist in Montreal under Heinz Lehmann at the Verdun Protestant Hospital (VPH) in 1958–59, and under Ewen Cameron at the Allan Memorial Institute in 1959–60. In 1960 Tom joined the staff at VPH as Senior Psychiatrist and Chief of the Clinical Research Service. He received his Diploma in Psychiatry from McGill in 1960 with a thesis on “Conditioning and Psychiatry”, published in 1964. In 1959 Tom published Psychopharmacology (Williams and Wilkins), the first textbook in the field. In addition, he was active in the American College of Neuropharmacology (ACNP), where he was accepted into membership in 1966 and ultimately became a Fellow Emeritus, and the Collegium Internationale Neuropsychopharmacologicum (CINP).

Edward F. Domino, 1924-2021 (PDF)

Edward F. Domino, Ph.D., the pioneering neuropharmacologist and a coiner of the term “dissociative anesthesia” died on November 3, 2021 at the age of 96. At the time of his death, Ed was Professor Emeritus of Pharmacology at the University of Michigan, where he spent nearly all of his career. Ed’s early training in both electrical engineering and pharmacology set the stage for his later career studying the electrophysiologic effects of drugs. Ed and his collaborators pioneered the study of phencyclidine and ketamine. For many, Ed’s pivotal characterization of the behavioral and neural effects of the phencyclidine derivative, ketamine, stands as the key accomplishment of his career. Ketamine was shorteracting and less potent than phencyclidine. Ketamine’s ease of use, safety, tolerability, and antinociceptive effects have made it among the most successful human and veterinary anesthetic agents, globally. Ed’s seemingly limitless passion for scientific innovation led him to make contributions to many areas of science throughout his long career. 

Mary Jeanne Kreek, 1937-2021 (PDF)

Mary Jeanne, a Fellow Emeritus in the ACNP, knew from an early age that she wanted to become a physician and scientist, but her first part time job was as a professional dancer. From the mid 1960’s to her death this year, Mary Jeanne never ceased to improve and develop methadone treatment. She was the key defender of this treatment that was proven to save lives and allow rehabilitation of heroin addicts. Throughout her career Mary Jeanne led the movement toward studying the genetic basis of opioid addiction. Her work was recognized by numerous awards including the top award from the College on Problems of Dependence, the Eddy Award in 1999. She also received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse in 2014.

Paula J Clayton, 1934-2021 (PDF)

Paula J. Clayton, MD died on September 4 in Pasadena, California after a short illness at the age of 86. She broke new ground in psychiatry in many ways —as a leading member of the Washington University group that revolutionized psychiatric diagnosis in America: as the first woman chair of major academic departments of psychiatry, and by her new findings on the diagnosis, clinical course, and treatment of depression. She was a beloved figure in psychiatry and a role model for the few women in psychiatry at the time in leadership roles or who aspired to them. She lit up any room that she entered with her warm smile, her sense of humor, and her sharp thinking. Paula was a quintessential mid-westerner, and embodied the distinctive demeanor of the Washington University group—to be extraordinarily gracious and noncontentious in manner, and fair and friendly to the core, but completely uncompromising on any matter of principle.

José Miguel Cañive, 1941-2021 (PDF)

José was born in La Habana, Cuba, on July 26, 1941. He left his native land shortly after Fidel Castro came to power and immigrated to Spain to study medicine. He received his medical degree from Complutense University in Madrid, Spain, in 1966. Next, he came to the United States for an internship in New York City and then went to Canada to do his psychiatric residency training at Mc Gill University that he started in 1972. Following completion of his residency, Jose worked briefly as a clinical psychiatrist in British Columbia and then went to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to join the University of New Mexico (UNM) Medical School in 1978. At UNM he went from Assistant to full Professor of Psychiatry and Neurosciences. Jose next moved to the Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center, Albuquerque New Mexico, where his research career fully blossomed. José was truly a global citizen who spoke several languages and enjoyed world travel. He attained significant national and international reputation and received many awards and honors. He was accepted for ACNP membership in 2010 and subsequently became a Fellow in 2016.

Stephen Szára, 1923-2021 (PDF)

Stephen Szára, a Hungarian psychiatrist and chemist, often considered the “father of DMT” (N-N-Dimethyltryptamine), died on August 1, 2021. In the nineteen-fifties he became interested in the concept of model psychoses and the role of psychedelics in psychotherapy, and was the first to study the psychotropic effects of DMT, an alternative molecule he synthesized after Sandoz had declined to send LSD behind the iron curtain (arguing that such a powerful psychotropic drug might be dangerous if used unscrupulously). Dr. Szára earned his DSc and MD from the Budapest University of Medicine, and established a research laboratory in a psychiatric hospital. Dr. Szára was an Emeritus Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum. He was also recipient of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration Administrator’s Meritorious Achievement Award and the Kovats Medal of Freedom from the American Hungarian Federation.

Stephen Hugh Koslow, 1940 - 2021 (PDF)

Stephen H. Koslow, ACNP Fellow Emeritus and member since 1977, unexpectedly lost his life on April 23, 2021. He had a most illustrious career and leaves an unusually large number of close colleagues and friends with whom he maintained close connections. Steve or “Koz” as he was known to many of us received his undergraduate education at Columbia University (BS) and his Ph.D in Pharmacology from the University of Chicago. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, he joined the intramural research program in the Laboratory of Preclinical Pharmacology and subsequently became the chief of the Unit of Neurobiological Applications of Mass Spectrometry in that group. This program based at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital was a hotbed of neuroscience and biological psychiatry research. It was there that Steve began his work as the principal investigator of the Clinical Research Branch Collaborative Program on the Psychobiology of Depression, a 6 center study, a 10-year program.Steve had the biggest heart. Behind a thin veneer of a dry sense of humor and occasional sarcasm, he was the MOST loyal of friends, through good times and bad.

James C. Harris, 1940–2021 (PDF)

James C. Harris, MD, passed away in April after 50 years at Johns Hopkins as a distinguished clinician, educator, scholar, investigator, and advocate. Jim was Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and of Pediatrics, former Director of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, founding director of the Developmental Neuropsychiatry Program at Hopkins and Kennedy Krieger Institute, and a beloved mentor to many of today’s leaders in pediatric psychiatry. He was also a proud member and then fellow of ACNP, and on the organization’s ethics and history committees. While psychiatry director at Kennedy Krieger, Jim championed specialty clinics in developmental neuropsychiatry, and conducted research on self-injury among patients with Lesch-Nyhan syndrome and other disorders. His many contributions to the field include serving as lead author of the DSM-5 criteria for intellectual disability. He was a passionate and inspiring advocate for people with developmental disabilities, and his many roles included serving on the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities during the Clinton administration.

Larry J. Siever, 1947-2021 (PDF)

Larry J. Siever, MD, a pioneer in the study of personality disorders and a longtime leader in the Mount Sinai Department of Psychiatry and James J Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), has passed away after a long illness. Larry’s work provided the scaffolding for a new way of thinking about personality disorders and has been internationally recognized for decades. His work led to the reconceptualization of personality disorders and, arguably, the elimination of a distinction between Axis I and Axis II in DSM-5. He published more than 350 peer-reviewed papers in work acknowledged by numerous awards, including being named “Presidential Scholar” and an award “In recognition of distinguished and pioneering contributions to the study of personality disorders” at the International Society for the Study of Personality Disorders in 2011. Though research, education and mentorship were ever at the core of Larry’s life’s work, there is much else to acknowledge.

Philip Seeman, 1934-2021 (PDF)

Professor Philip Seeman MD, PhD, DSc FRSC, Order of Canada, an ACNP Member Emeritus, was a towering icon of neuropsychiatric research. Inspired by his beloved wife and psychiatrist Dr. Mary V. Seeman, Philip became intrigued with schizophrenia pathophysiology. With the advent of effective antipsychotic drugs (e.g., haloperidol), he surmised that their targets could guide the path towards illuminating the pathology of schizophrenia. Philip Seeman’s intangible traits - generosity, kindness, mentorship, friendship, equanimity, and humor - live on in the memories of those fortunate enough to have known him as a friend, a trainee, a colleague, an advisor, a collaborator.