In Memoriam

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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.

Gian Carlo Salmoiraghi, 1924–2020 (PDF)

Gian Carlo “Nino” Salmoiraghi, D.Sc., MD, Ph.D., a Fellow Emeritus in the ACNP, had a long and distinguished career in medicine and science. He earned his medical degree from the University of Rome in 1948 and a Doctorate of Philosophy from McGill University in Physiology in 1959. His was a cutting-edge vision of bringing together a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines to focus on mental disorders at a time when the idea of a biological basis for a range of abnormal human behaviors was gaining traction and even the discipline of “neuroscience” was in its infancy.

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.

C. James Klett, 1926-2020 (PDF)

C. James “Jim” Klett, Ph.D., was a Fellow Emeritus for ACNP and a giant among the first generation of psychopharmacologists. Many of us know him best by the company he kept: Leo Hollister, Jonathan Cole, John Overall, Gerry Klerman, just to name a few. Jim’s passion was in statistics and clinical trials methodology. During his 25 years as Chief of the VA’s Central Neuropsychopharmacology Research Lab, he conducted multicenter clinical trials that made a difference in patient care. His study with Sam Kaim on alcohol withdrawal comparing four drugs, one still in use, was picked as one of NIAAA’s seminal articles on alcohol research.

Alan Ivan Green, 1943–2020 (PDF)

Alan Ivan Green, MD, a Fellow in the ACNP, was born in Norwalk, Connecticut to Dr. Howard and Irene Wouk Green. He was the middle of three boys, all of whom became physicians like their father. Alan attended public schools in Norwalk before matriculating at Columbia University (’65), majoring in History. He then attended Johns Hopkins School of Medicine (‘69). After first year, he took a summer elective at UCSF’s Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute where he studied patients profoundly impaired by substance abuse. The experience kindled his life-long interest in substance abuse and chronic mental illness.

Joe L. Martinez, Jr., 1944–2020 (PDF)

Joe L. Martinez, Jr., Ph.D. was an academic scientist in the areas of neuropharmacology and psychobiology, and a champion of diversity in science. Joe was retired from a long and notable career with his longest tenure at the University of Texas, San Antonio (UTSA), where he was the Ewing Halsell Distinguished Chair in psychology and the founder and Director of the Cajal Neuroscience Research Center, currently known as the UTSA Neurosciences Institute. Joe was an ACNP emeritus member. His research focused on the neurochemical and neurophysiological basis of learning and memory.

Frederick K. Goodwin, 1936-2020 (PDF)

Fred Goodwin was a fellow member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology since the late 1960s, and early 1970s. His informed talks at the annual meeting were not to be missed. His passion for his work, and the rigor of his critical thinking, were clearly influenced by his Jesuit education. His laboratory at NIMH was stellar in the quality of its science; and, in the excellence of the young scientists that benefited from Fred’s mentorship and guidance.

Leslie L. Iversen, 1937–2020 (PDF)

Leslie Iversen, Ph.D. led an outstanding generation of UK neuropharmacologists. He excelled in every domain; leading intra-mural research of the Medical Research Council; heading a UK drug discovery unit for Merck; providing academic scholarship (at Oxford University) and consulting for Biotech and government, chairing the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs Committee with characteristic calm and intellectual distinction.

Robert T. Malison, 1959–2020 (PDF)

Robert T. Malison, M.D., professor of Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine and a long-standing member of the ACNP died unexpectedly at the age of 60 on Saturday, July 25, 2020. Bob, an avid outdoorsman, cellist and tennis player, passed away peacefully in his bed after an acute cardiac event. At the time of his death, Bob was director of the Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit of the Abraham Ribicoff Research Facilities of the Connecticut Mental Health Center. He was leader of the Neuroscience Research Training Program (T32 grant), the neuroscience research track of the Yale Psychiatry Residency. He also led the Integrated Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Training (IMPORT) in Psychiatry (NIMH R25), and an addiction training grant based in Thailand. At the same time, he was principal investigator on two independent project grants (RO1s). Bob was a polymath translational neuroscientist and pioneer in addiction research. Bob was the recipient of a number of national and international honors. However, it is likely that his most treasured honor was being voted “Teacher of the Year” by the Yale Psychiatry Residents Association in 2010.

Oleh Hornykiewicz, 1926–2020 (PDF)

Dr. Oleh Hornykiewicz (1926–2020) was one of a rare handful of scientists familiar with the deep anatomical pockets of the human brain and capable of dissecting them out individually. This special ability made it possible for him to uncover the neurochemical abnormalities of various regions of the brain in Parkinson’s disease. Oleh entered the University of Vienna to study medicine and, on graduation, joined the Pharmacology Institute, combining clinical work with research into Wilson’s disease. From 1956 to 1958, he took a break from Vienna at Oxford University in England where his attention became focused on dopamine, a substance just becoming recognized as potentially important to brain function.

Donald M. Gallant, 1929-2020 (PDF)

Donald (Don) Gallant, M.D. passed away in Memphis, Tennessee on March 11, 2020 at the age of 90 years. Don was a Life Fellow Emeritus of the ACNP and a Professor Emeritus in the Department of Psychiatry and Neurology at the Tulane University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, LA, where he continued to carry out research and to teach medical students and residents until Hurricane Katrina destroyed his home in New Orleans. Don was the proverbial “triple threat”, a superb researcher, a compassionate, and effective clinician and an inspiring teacher and mentor. In an era of psychiatry dominated by extreme somatic therapies on the one hand and psychoanalysis on the other, Don nonetheless became one of the early “biological” psychiatrists convinced that schizophrenia and other major mental disorders had a molecular and metabolic basis and for his entire career embodying a very eclectic “medical model” of treatment intervention. Something routine today, but rare in his day.

Torgny Svensson, 1945–2020 (PDF)

Torgny Svensson, M.D., Ph.D. was professor of Pharmacology at the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm. He was an internationally recognized psychopharmacologist and neurophysiologist who focused on monoamine systems. Torgny’s work shed light on the mechanism of action of antipsychotic and antidepressant medications and it suggested novel mechanisms to enhance treatment efficacy. Torgny was an active and devoted ACNP member. Over four decades, he enjoyed connecting with his wide international network of friends and colleagues at our meeting.

Bruce McEwen, 1938-2020 (PDF)

Bruce S. McEwen, Ph.D. was the Alfred E. Mirsky Professor and Head of the Harold and Margaret Milliken Hatch Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology. He was elected to the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) in 1998 and became the inaugural winner of the Neuropsychopharmacology Editors’ Award for a Review (NEAR) in 2017. Dr. McEwen was internationally renowned for his extraordinary research documenting the profound role of stress and stress hormones, specifically the cortisol-like corticosterone steroid in rodents, on both brain structure and function. For over five decades, Dr. McEwen continued to conduct outstanding laboratory-based research, primarily in rodent models, to increasingly elucidate the details of how stress, stress hormones, and sex hormones impact specific aspects of brain function, with focus on the hippocampus.

Ronald S. Duman, 1954-2020 (PDF)

Ronald S. Duman, Ph.D. was the Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of Neuroscience at the Yale University School of Medicine and Director of the Abraham Ribicoff Research Facilities of the Connecticut Mental Health Center. He also played a central role in the National PTSD Brain Bank and the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. He was a member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine and recipient of two of the most prestigious prizes for mood disorders research, the Colvin Prize of the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation and the Anna-Monika Foundation Prize. The Duman laboratory focused on identifying fundamental neurobiological mechanisms underlying the effects of stress on the brain. He was a pioneer in identifying how antidepressant treatments reverse structural changes produced by stress in both animal models and studies of human post-mortem brain tissue.