Mental health presentations are open to the public

Research symposium on weight loss, alcoholism, obsessive compulsives

Brown University's Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior will hold its third annual research symposium Dec. 1 from 1-5:15 p.m. at Butler Hospital. The half-hour presentations are free and open to the public.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Weight loss, alcoholism and childhood obsessive compulsive disorder are topics that will be discussed by Brown University School of Medicine faculty on Dec. 1 from 1-5:15 p.m. at Butler Hospital's Ray Conference Center, 345 Blackstone Blvd. This third annual research symposium is sponsored by Brown University's Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. It is free and open to the public.

At 2 p.m., Enoch Gordis, M.D., director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, will deliver the keynote address about advances in research on alcoholism. The institute is the principal federal agency for research on the causes, consequences, treatment and prevention of alcohol-related problems.

Faculty presenters and their topics include Henrietta Leonard, M.D., who will discuss a factor that may trigger childhood obsessive compulsive disorder; Rena Wing, Ph.D., who will discuss effective ways to maintain weight loss; and Richard Longabaugh, Ed.D., who will talk about the role of social support in treating alcoholism. Additional research by faculty, residents, interns and postdoctoral fellows will be showcased on posters.

The presentation schedule

• 1 p.m. Opening remarks by Martin B. Keller, M.D., chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, and Donald Marsh, M.D., dean of medicine and biological sciences.
  
  
• 1:20 p.m. "Childhood Onset Obsessive Compulsive Disorder: Is There a Unique Subtype?" Henrietta L. Leonard, director of training, child and adolescent psychiatry and professor of psychiatry and human behavior, will talk about her findings that a streptococcal infection may trigger obsessive compulsive disorder and Tourette Syndrome in some children. She is co-author of the recently published book Is It "Just a Phase"? How to Tell Common Childhood Phases from More Serious Problems.
  
  
• 2 p.m. "Advances in Research on Alcoholism and What They Promise for Future Treatment and Prevention," the keynote address by Enoch Gordis, director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The institute supports studies on alcohol-related problems in such biological and behavioral areas as neuroscience, pharmacology, epidemiology, genetics, molecular biology, and prevention and treatment.
  
  
• 3:20 p.m. "Behavioral Strategies to Improve Long-Term Weight Loss and Maintenance." The biggest hurdle for those who are overweight is not losing the weight but keeping if off, says Rena R. Wing, director of the diabetes and obesity research division of behavioral and preventive medicine and professor of psychiatry and human behavior. She will talk about ways people have maintained their weight loss, drawing on information from the National Weight Control Registry of 2,000 individuals who have lost upward of 30 pounds and kept the weight off at least a year.
  
  
• 4 p.m. "Matching Alcohol Treatment to Patient Social Support and the Effects of Participation in Alcoholics Anonymous." We currently have little idea why a treatment for alcohol dependence works when it works, says Richard Longabaugh, associate director of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies and professor of psychiatry and human behavior. Longabaugh will talk about the role of social support on the effectiveness of treatment programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous.
  
  
• 4:40 p.m. Presentation of awards for research posters