NCDEU’s Golden Anniversary
This June marked the 50th annual NCDEU meeting, cosponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology (ASCP). Begun a half century ago as the Early Clinical Drug Evaluation Unit (ECDEU), a psychopharmacology research program of NIMH, the meeting provided a forum for the pioneers in this new therapeutic area to meet and discuss common interests. ECDEU grew in scope and attendees, and its name later evolved to New Clinical Drug Evaluation Unit, which conveys little information. The acronym NCDEU, however, is widely recognized and highly regarded.
I first attended NCDEU as an investigator in an NIMH-sponsored collaborative study of fluphenazine decanoate in 1974. From then until 2010 I have missed only 1 meeting—which conflicted with my wedding. NCDEU is a regular and valued fixture on my annual calendar.
From its inception as a forum for NIMH and university clinical researchers, ECDEU/NCDEU has grown to encompass representatives of pharmaceutical and device manufacturers, physicians from the US Food and Drug Administration, employees of clinical research organizations and research sites, and other interested clinicians and investigators. The meeting provides an informal but scintillating venue for creativity and collaboration. Retaining its primary focus on clinical psychopharmacology research, NCDEU has expanded to include psychosocial interventions, health economics, outcomes research, ethics, public policy, and much more. Many fertile seeds have taken root at NCDEU and subsequently yielded fruit to nourish the practice of Psychiatry.
The 50th anniversary meeting of NCDEU provided an opportunity for some of the field’s leaders to look back and forward at progress in important areas of psychopharmacology and clinical science. In this issue and throughout the next year, JCP will publish a number of Festschrift articles to celebrate NCDEU, the pioneers in psychopharmacology, and progress in our robust field. We are honored to bring you the reviews, work, and thought of some of the leading figures in Psychiatry.
ASCP, this journal’s partner, is a recent but natural cosponsor with NIMH of the NCDEU annual meeting. ASCP’s leadership role is likely to expand in the meeting’s future. ASCP and JCP look forward to our growing partnership and involvement in NCDEU and Psychiatry’s promising future.
doi:10.4088/JCP.10f06326whi
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