National Institute for Developmental Psychiatry

Abstract

Significant increases in the average Iife span have made chronic diseases a principal target of studies and interventions in the field of health care. However, there have only been few advances towards a full recovery for major psychiatric disorders. This project is designed to create strategies that promote mental health and protect the vulnerable and at-risk individuals. Mental disorders frequently begin in childhood. With this in mind, we have designed our project to provide a new framework for psychiatry in Brazil: developmental psychiatry. Developmental psychiatry is an interdisciplinary field that attempts to understand typical and atypical development, as well as the origin of developmental alterations and their expression as mental illness. The core feature of this initiative is the creation of the National Institute for Developmental Psychiatry. This institute involves a set of initiatives and research projects designed to introduce tools and methods that promote the healthy development of children and adolescents through the connection for the first time of a huge net including the best investigators on the field in our country. This Institute will introduce the precepts of developmental psychiatry into research, human resource development, outreach to the public, and the development of new technologies to achieve these objectives in partnership with the business community. We will initially describe the panorama of sociodemographic and psychopathological parameters in children and adolescents by means of a nationwide cross-sectional population-based study including the assessment of both cases and at-risk children. Special attention would be given to areas with major needs Iike the semi-arido. In an additional longitudinal study, we will follow a birth cohort until age three. Children considered to be at risk for mental disorders will be evaluated In terms of genetic and environmental factors, as well as endophenotypic risk profiles for the development of mental disorders. Underscoring the role of the institute in research and treatment, we will employ clinical trials to evaluate the efficacy of different adaptive therapeutic methods and strategies for use with children and adolescents presenting with psychiatric disorders or at-risk for them. Using translational neuroscience research as a reference, we will employ animal models to help investigate etiological factors and also to evaluate the association with candidate genes for behavioral traits. Strong emphasis will be placed on the cultivation of human resources which are currently in short supply in the area of child and adolescent mental health in the country. Various programs are proposed in to integrate the principals of developmental psychiatry into the training of mental health professionals, postgraduate medical students, public school personnel, family health care workers. For the dissemination of knowledge in the mental health field, we will devise and apply tools allowing for the appropriate use of telemedicine. The heart of this initiative 15 based in the northeast part of the country. We plan to employ an electronic medical records system to help integrate and provide more efficient accessibility to the information generated by our proposed research activities. We also plan to evaluate the costs of the prophylactic and therapeutic interventions that can then be used towards more efficient planning and management of mental health programs by governmental authorities. Therefore, using observational and experimental studies coupled with modules that are focused on teaching and improving therapy, along with the development of new technologies to achieve these objectives, we pro pose to establish a comprehensive institute that will explore a broader psychiatry that addresses the problems encountered at the individual and collective levels. In conclusion, we believe that the projects proposed here towards focus on developmental psychiatry will help building closer ties between child and adolescent psychiatrists and those who treat adults. This work will also help all of those in their respective mental health fields to have a better understanding of the natural course of mental wellness and mental disorders over the human lifespan. (AU)