Since the facility’s opening in 1989, Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital has been committed to research projects aimed at finding the most effective treatments for patients with mental illnesses – among these include a sponsorship of a World Health Organization study of schizophrenia, participation in the largest worldwide study of depression, and multiple nationwide studies of eating disorders. Monthly, researchers from across the country join local professionals to share breaking advancements in treatment as a part of the William K. Warren Frontiers in Neuroscience conferences.

More than one-third of the population will suffer from a neuropsychiatric disorder during their lifetime, which in many cases will result ultimately in death or disability. For some of these conditions, such as those associated with neurodegenerative illness, substantial progress has been made at understanding pathophysiology, yet effective treatments have remained elusive. For other brain-based conditions, such as the major psychiatric disorders, the converse has been true, as treatments that are partly effective have been discovered in the absence of certain knowledge about pathophysiology. Nevertheless, progress in developing more effective treatments for the major psychiatric disorders has reached an impasse, as too little is known about the neurobiology underlying these conditions to guide industry toward targets for drugs and biologicals capable of reducing further the clinical burden of these illnesses.