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## FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ##
Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) Honors Top Researchers
with Gerald L. Klerman Awards
(CHICAGO, May 17, 2015) — The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA), the
nation’s largest patient-run organization focusing on depression and bipolar disorder, presented
its prestigious Klerman Awards to Paul E. Croarkin, D.O., M.S., Mark A. Frye, M.D., and
Andrew A. Nierenberg, M.D., on Sunday, May 17, in Toronto, Ontario. Named after
Gerald L. Klerman, M.D., a pivotal figure in psychiatry, these awards are the highest honors that
DBSA extends to members of the scientific community. Presented annually, they recognize
researchers whose work contributes to understanding the causes, diagnosis, and treatment of
depression and bipolar disorder.
The 2014 Gerald L. Klerman Young Investigator Award recipient is Paul E. Croarkin, D.O., M.S.
Dr. Croarkin is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and a
Consultant at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester
Minnesota. Dr. Croarkin’s clinical interest is understanding the neurobiology, optimal treatment,
and classification of mood disorders in children and adolescents. His research focuses on
understanding the pathophysiology of mood disorders and developing more effective treatments
that will enhance individual outcomes and impact a considerable societal burden. A central theme
among Dr. Croarkin's research is investigating the role of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and
glutamate neurotransmitter systems in early-onset mood disorders with the goal of informing
safer and more effective biologic treatments. Dr. Croarkin received his masters in Clinical
Science from UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas and his Doctor of Osteopathic
Medicine from University of North Texas, Fort Worth, Texas.
For their career-long contributions to mental health research, the 2014 Gerald L. Klerman Senior
Investigator Award recipients are Mark A. Frye, M.D., and Andrew A. Nierenberg, M.D.
Dr. Frye is a Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Mayo Clinic Depression Center.
His clinical interests are in bipolar disorder, treatment resistant depression, and
alcoholism with a research focus on genomics, brain imaging, and clinical trials. He
received his medical degree from the University of Minnesota and completed his training
at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute. He completed a research fellowship in the
Biological Psychiatry Branch at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in
Bethesda, Maryland. He was awarded The International Society for Bipolar Disorder
Mogens Schou Award for Education, 2011; the DBSA Gerald Klerman Young
Investigator Award, 2003; and listed among the Best Doctors in America, 2007 – 2013.
Dr. Frye has published over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles with fellow colleagues in
his field.
We’ve been there. We can help.
55 E. Jackson Blvd, Suite 490 ● Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 642-0049 ● Toll-Free (800) 826-3632 ● Fax (312) 642-7243 ● www.DBSAlliance.org
Dr. Nierenberg is the Thomas P., Hackett, MD, Endowed Chair in Psychiatry, Director of the
Bipolar Research Program, and Associate Director of the Depression Clinical and Research
Program, at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). He is also the Director of Training and
Education for the MGH Research Institute. His academic appointment is Professor of Psychiatry
at Harvard Medical School. His primary clinical interests are treatment resistant depression,
bipolar depression, and the longitudinal course of mood disorders. Dr. Nierenberg has over 25
years of experience in conducting clinical trials in mood disorders. He has directed the NIMH
Bipolar Trials Network, was principal investigator for the multi-site Lithium Moderate Dose
Study on the comparative effectiveness of lithium with other medications, Bipolar CHOICE that
compared lithium and quetiapine, and the Mood Patient Powered Research Network
(www.moodnetwork.org) that will gather together 50,000 patients for prospective comparative
effectiveness studies.
His major research interests include pharmacologic treatment and course of treatment resistant
depression; bipolar depression; phenomenology, longitudinal course, and treatment of mood
disorders; and the management of antidepressant-associated adverse events. He attended the
Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University followed by a residency in psychiatry
at New York University/Bellevue Hospital and then he was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical
Scholar at Yale. He has published over 400 papers and has been listed among the Best Doctors in
North America for the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders continuously since 1994. He has
received the National Depression and Manic Depression Association (NDMDA) Gerald L.
Klerman Young Investigator Award in 2000 and the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation
Colvin Prize for outstanding achievement in mood disorders research in 2014. Dr. Nierenberg
was listed among the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds 2014 by Thompson Reuters for
being in the top 1% of literature citations in psychiatry or psychology worldwide. In 2015, he
received the Mentorship Award for exceptional mentorship in the research arena at MGH. Dr.
Nierenberg lectures nationally and internationally, teaches and supervises clinicians and
researchers, maintains an active clinical practice, conducts clinical trials, and serves on the
editorial boards of multiple psychiatric journals.
The DBSA Klerman Awards’ namesake, Gerald L. Klerman, M.D., was professor and associate
chairman of research at Cornell University Hospital Medical College and one of DBSA’s earliest
supporters. He conducted the first clinical trial showing the efficacy of medication and
psychotherapy in preventing recurrent depression. For that trial, he developed interpersonal
psychotherapy, an evidence-based treatment widely used today and modified for the adjunctive
treatment of patients with bipolar disorder who are undergoing pharmacotherapy. Additionally,
Dr. Klerman led the first large-scale, multisite study to understand the diagnosis, course, and
genetics of major depression. Still ongoing, the study has provided critical findings on the nature
of depressive disorder.
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We’ve been there. We can help.
55 E. Jackson Blvd, Suite 490 ● Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 642-0049 ● Toll-Free (800) 826-3632 ● Fax (312) 642-7243 ● www.DBSAlliance.org
The Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) is the leading patient-directed national
organization focusing on depression and bipolar disorder. DBSA’s mission is to improve the lives
of people living with mood disorders. The organization fosters an environment of understanding
about the impact and management of these life-threatening illnesses by providing up-to-date,
scientifically-based tools and information. DBSA supports research to promote more timely
diagnosis, develop more effective and tolerable treatments, and discover a cure. The organization
works to ensure that people living with mood disorders are treated equitably. Assisted by a
scientific advisory board comprised of the leading researchers and clinicians in the field of mood
disorders, DBSA has more than 700 peer-run support groups across the country. DBSA assists
millions of people each year with in-person and online peer support; current, readily
understandable information about depression and bipolar disorder; and empowering tools
focused on an integrated approach to wellness. For more information about DBSA or depression
and bipolar disorder, please visit www.DBSAlliance.org or call (800) 826-3632.
We’ve been there. We can help.
55 E. Jackson Blvd, Suite 490 ● Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 642-0049 ● Toll-Free (800) 826-3632 ● Fax (312) 642-7243 ● www.DBSAlliance.org