NIMH’s Dr. Robert Heinssen Receives Special Presidential Commendation from APA

April 23, 2014 • Science Update

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) congratulates Robert Heinssen, Ph.D., recipient of the 2014 Special Presidential Commendation from the American Psychiatric Association (APA). Dr. Heinssen serves as Director of the Division of Services and Intervention Research at NIMH. He has been recognized by the APA for championing research on early psychosis and translating it into policy and programs for clinical implementation as a new standard of care.

The Special Presidential Commendation ceremony is part of the APA Annual Meeting in New York, with the presentation to Dr. Heinssen taking place at the Convocation of Distinguished Fellows on May 5, 2014.

Dr. Heinssen has played a key role in the development of the NIMH research project, Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode (RAISE). This groundbreaking project seeks to fundamentally change the trajectory and prognosis of schizophrenia through coordinated and aggressive treatment in the earliest stages of illness. RAISE is designed to reduce the likelihood of long-term disability that people with schizophrenia often experience. It aims to help people with the disorder lead productive, independent lives. At the same time, it aims to reduce the financial impact on the public systems often tapped to pay for the care of people with schizophrenia.

Learn more about the RAISE project as well as the two NIMH-funded research teams that have developed interventions that can be tested in real-world treatment settings and be readily adopted and quickly put into practice. Dr. Lisa Dixon of Columbia University developed the RAISE Connection Program and Dr. John Kane of the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research has developed the RAISE Early Treatment Program .