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Prof. Benjamin Lerer

 

 

Department of Psychiatry

Director,

Biological Psychiatry

Laborator

 Hadassah- Hebrew University Medical Center

Jerusalem, Israel, 1990

 

 

Birthdate: 5th August, 1948

 

Place of Birth: Johannesburg, South Africa

 

Marital Status: Married, three children

 

Qualifications:

 

University of Cape Town Medical School, South Africa, 1971 (with Distinction)

 

Israel Institute of Psychoanalysis, Diploma in Psychotherapy, 1978

 

Israel Ministry of Health, Specialty Boards in Psychiatry, 1980

 

Training And Employment:

 

Tel Hashomer (Sheba) Hospital, Israel, Internship, 1972

 

Hebrew-University Hadassah Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel:

 

Residency in Internal Medicine, 1973-1974

 

Residency in Psychiatry, 1974-1978

 

Ezrath Nashim (Herzog) Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel.

 

Research Fellowship 1979-1980

 

Director, Dept. of Psychiatry A, 1980-1982

 

Lafayette Clinic, Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.

 

Senior Research Fellow and Research Unit Chief, 1982-1984.

 

Ezrath Nashim (Herzog) Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel.

 

Director, Dept. of Psychiatry A, 1984-1990.

 

Director, Yaacov Herzog Center for Brain and Psychiatry Research, 1984-1990

 

Present Appointments:

 

Director Biological Psychiatry Laboratory Hadassah- Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Israel, 1990-

 

Professor of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University Hadassah, Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel, 1991-

 

University Appointments:

 

Department of Psychiatry, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, Israel:

 

-          Instructor, 1976-1979

-          Lecturer, 1979-1984

-          Senior Lecturer, 1984-1986

-          Associate Professor, 1986-1991

-          Professor, 1991-

-          Chairman, Academic Department of Psychiatry, 1989-1993

-          Vice-Dean for Academic Appointments, Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, 2000-2002

-          Director, National Institute for Psychobiology in Israel, 1994-2002

 

Wayne State University, Detroit. Michigan, U.S.A.:

 

-          Assistant Professor, 1982-1984

-          Associate Professor, 1984

 

University Committees:

 

-          Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School

-          Medical Student Selection Committee, 1980-1982

-          Special Committee on Drug Abuse and Alcoholism Education, 1990

-          Medical School Curriculum Committee, 1992-4

-          Special Committee for Evaluation of the Clinical Academic Track in the Hebrew University – Hadassah Faculty of Medicine, 2002- (Chairman)

-          Hebrew University, Jerusalem

-          Milton Rosenbaum Endowment Fund for Research in the Psychiatric Sciences,  1992- (Chairman)

 

Professional Committees:

 

Israel Ministry of Health, Committee for Electroconvulsive Therapy Standards and Practice (Chairman, 1988-1992; 1995-)

 

American Psychiatric Association, DSM-IV, Committee on Anxiety Disorders and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Subcommittee (1989-1994)

 

National Institute for Psychobiology in Israel, Scientific Advisory Board (1992-4)

 

Conference Committees:

 

First International Conference on New Directions in Affective Disorders, Jerusalem, 1987. (Chairman)

 

United Kingdom-Israel Binational Symposium on Molecular Genetics and Neuropsychiatric Disorders, 1991. (Chairman)

 

First National Conference of the Israel Society of Biological Psychiatry, 1993. (Chairman)

 

2nd International Conference on New Directions in Affective Disorders, Jerusalem, 1995. (Chairman)

 

Memberships:

 

Israel:

 

-          Israel Medical Association

-          Israel Psychiatric Association

-          Israel Society for Biological Psychiatry (Founding Member)

-          Israel Society for Neuroscience

 

International:

 

-          International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) (Fellow)

-          International Society for Psychoneuroendocrinology

-          Association for Convulsive Therapy

-          U.S. Society of Biological Psychiatry

-          International Society for Psychiatric Genetics (Charter Member)

-          European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP)

-          International Wernicke-Kleist-Leonhard Society

-          American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP)

-          International Society for Pharmacogenomics

-          International Society for Affective Disorders

 

Editorships:

 

Editor in Chief:

International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology (Official Scientific Journal of the CINP)

 

Guest Editor:

Journal of Electroconvulsive Therapy Special Issues on “The Neurobiology of ECT” (1998-1999)

 

Editorial Boards:

 

Neuropsychobiology

The Journal of Depression and Anxiety

Comprehensive Psychiatry

 

Reviewer/Consultant:

 

Journals:

American Journal of Medical

Journal of Psychiatric Research

Genetics

Molecular Psychiatry

Biological Psychiatry

Neurobiology of Disease

Brain Research

Neuropsychopharmacology

Comprehensive Psychiatry

Neuroscience Letters

European Journal of Pharmacology

Psychiatric Genetics

Harefuah – Journal of the Israel

Psychiatry Research

Medical Association   

Psychological Medicine

Israel Journal of Medical Sciences

Psychoneuroendicrinology

Israel Journal of Psychiatry

Psychopharmacology

Journal of Affective Disorders

Psychosomatics

Journal of ECT (Convulsive Therapy)

The Pharmacogenomics Journal

Journal of Neurochemistry

Schizophrenia Research

 

Research Grants

 

-          United States – Israel Binational Science Foundation (BSF)

-          German-Israel Foundation for Scientific Research (GIF)

-          Human Frontier Science Program.

-          Wellcome Trust (U.K.)

-          Israel Academy of Sciences – National Science Fund

-          Israel National Council for Research and Development

-          Israel Ministry of Health, Chief Scientist's Office

-          Milton Rosenbaum Endowment Fund for Psychiatric Research

-          National Institute for Psychobiology in Israel

 

Examiner

 

Israel Medical Association, Scientific Council, Specialty Board Examinations in Psychiatry, 1985-

 

Awards and honours:

 

-          Bornstein Research Prize for Psychiatry and Neurology, 1981

-          Hadassah-Hebrew University Faculty Research Prize, 1981

-          U.S. Society for Biological Psychiatry, A.E. Bennet Award for Basic Science (Honorable Mention), 1983

-          Del Amo Award, 1984

-          U.S. Society for Biological Psychiatry, A.E. Bennet Award for Basic Science (First Prize), 1984

-          Chairman, Israel Society of Biological Psychiatry, 1992-4

-          Vice President, International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP), 1996-2000

-          Elected to American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 1996

 

Visiting Scientist / Professor:

 

Visiting Scientist, Department of Psychiatry, University of Cape Town, 1982 (South African Medical Research Council).

 

Visiting Professor, Rigshospitalet Department of Psychiatry, University of Copenhagen, 1987 (Danish Ministry of Science).

 

Visiting Professor, Dept. of Psychiatry and Neuroscience, University of Hiroshima, 1995 (Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science).

 

Visiting Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Stellenbosch, 2003.

 

Current research support:

 

Academic Grants:

 

U.S. Public Health Service, National Institute of Mental Health: "Basic Mechanisms of Antidepressant Augmentation," 2001-2004 (Co-Investigator; PI: M.E. Newman)

 

Philip Morris External Research Program. “Genetic susceptibility to smoking and nicotine dependence among young Israeli women.” 2002-2005 (Principal Investigator)

 

Stanley Medical Research Institute. “Triidothyronine (T3) supplementation in bipolar and unipolar depression: A random assignment, double blind, placebo-controlled study.” 2002-2005 (Principal Investigator)

 

Indian-Israeli Cooperation in Genomic Research, Israel Ministry of Science: “Pharmacogenetics of Antipsychotic Drugs,” 2002-2004 (Principal Investigator)

 

Korean Israeli Research Cooperation Program, Israel Ministry of Science: “Schizophrenia: A Genomic Strategy for Investigating Disease Causation and Treatment Development,” 2002-2004 (Principal Investigator)

 

Previous Research Support

 

Academic Grants:

 

Israel Joint Distribution Committee: "Resistant Depression Project," 1984-1986 (Principal Investigator)

 

Israel Center for Psychobiology: "Lithium and Serotonergic Function in Rat Brain," 1987-1989 (Co-Investigator)

 

Harry Stern Foundation (ENOSH): "The Relationship Between Serum Fluphenazine Levels, Prolactin Levels and Clinical State in Chronic Schizophrenic Outpatients," 1987-1989 (Co-Investigator)

 

U.S. Public Health Service, National Institute of Mental Health, Grant #MH43873, "Serotonergic Mechanisms of Lithium and Imipramine" 1988-1991 (Co-Principal Investigator)

 

Euro-Israeli Collaborative Neuroscience Project (European Economic Community - Israel Ministry of Science): "Molecular Neurobiology of Schizophrenia," 1989-1992 (Principal Investigator)

 

U.S. Public Health Service, National Institute of Mental Health, Grant #MH40734; #MH48470: "ECT: Optimum Schedule and Antidepressant Mechanisms", 1986-1990; 1991-1995 (Principal Investigator)

 

European Science Foundation Program on the Molecular Neurobiology of Mental Illness, 1989-1995 (Group Leader - Israel)

 

Commission of the European Communities, BIOMED Health Research Program: "European Collaborative Study of Affective Disorders: Interaction Between Genetic and Psychosocial Vulnerability Factors", 1992-2000 (Principal Investigator - Israel)

 

German - Israel Foundation for Scientific Research (GIF), "Genetic Linkage Studies in Schizophrenia", 1994-1996 (Principal Investigator)

 

Deutsche Forschungs Gemeinschaft (DFG) (Schwerpunkt Program). "Ascertainment of Concordantly Affected Sibling Pairs for a German Israeli Collaborative Study on the Molecular Genetics of Bipolar Affective Disorder,"1995-1997 (Principal Investigator - Israel)

 

Israel Ministry of Health, Chief Scientist's Office, Grant #3028: "Factors Which Precipitate Psychiatric Hospitalisation in Patients with Major Depression," 1995-7 (Principal Investigator)

 

Hadassah - San Raffaele Joint Research Program. “Genetic Prediction of Medication Response In Patients With Major Psychiatric Disorders,” 1996-1998 (Joint Principal Investigator)

 

U.S. Public Health Service, National Institute of Mental Health, Grant #MH43979: "Genetic Linkage Studies in Affective Disorders," 1989-1994; 1995-1998 (Co-Principal Investigator)

 

Israel Science Foundation (Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities) “Functional and Structural Brain Imaging in Major Depression Before and After Treatment,” 1995-1999 (Principal Investigator)

 

Commission of the European Communities, BIOMED -II Health Research Program: "European Collaborative Study of Affective Disorders: Interaction Between Genetic and Psychosocial Vulnerability Factors", 1997-2001 (Principal Investigator - Israel)

 

U.S. Public Health Service, National Institute of Mental Health, Grant #MH59602: "Molecular Genetics of Bipolar Disorder," 1998-2002 (Co-Principal Investigator)

 

Indian Israeli Cooperation in Human Genome Research, Israel Ministry of Science: “Molecular Genetics of Complex Phenotypes,” 2000-2002 (Principal Investigator)

 

Hadassit Applied Research Fund (Horrowitz Foundation): “Identification of Genes for Schizophrenia in a Unique, Ethnically Homogeneous, Inbred Population,” 1999-2002 (Principal Investigator)

 

German Israeli Foundation for Scientific Research and Development (GIF): “Molecular Genetics of Schizophrenia,” 2000-2002 (Principal Investigator)

 

Industry Contracts:

 

Ciba Geigy (Switzerland): "Ludiomil/GI Multicenter Study, "1985-1986 (Principal Investigator, Israel)

 

Farmitalia (Italy): "FCE 4104 (Reboxetine) Multicenter Study," 1986-1987 (Principal Investigator, Israel)

 

Sandoz (Switzerland): "Clozapine ("Leponex") in Treatment Resistant Schizophrenia" - Multicenter Study, 1990-1991 (Principal Investigator)

 

Glaxo (United Kingdom): "Long Term Study of Ondansetron in the Treatment of Anxiety" - Multicenter Study, 1991-1993 (Principal Investigator)

 

CTS (Israel): "Phosphatidylserine in Age Associated Memory Impairment" 1992-1993 (Co-Principal Investigator)

 

Abic-Teva, Israel:  “Risperidone in Schizophrenia” - Multicenter Study, 1994-1995

 

Servier, France: “Tianeptine in Major Depression: A Multicenter, Randomised, Double Blind, Placebo Controlled Study, 1998-1999.

 

Click here for

List of Publications

                                                                                  




Prof. Benjamin Lerer



            
     
 


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