Brought to you by the Depression Is Real Coalition, The Down & Up Show is dedicated to the reality of depression. Our hosts will talk with some of the world's top experts on depression, as well as people who have been impacted by this illness. The reality of depression is that it is a debilitating and potentially deadly medical condition that affects more than 15 million Americans every year. The other reality of depression is that there is hope.

Eric D. Caine, M.D.

John Romano Professor and Chair
Dept. of Psychiatry
University of Rochester Medical Center

Biographical Sketch: I joined the faculty of the University of Rochester in 1978, following medical school at Harvard, residency training at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center and the National Institute of Mental Health, and further postdoctoral research at NIMH. During college and medical school, my interests focused primarily on substance abuse treatment, suicide, and end-of-life issues. The first two were tied specifically to fundamental concerns about public health, prevention, and public policy development.

My path changed radically as I progressed through medical school and my psychiatry residency; I focused on the relationships between organized brain functioning and behavioral disorders. In addition to the standard residency I pursued additional training in neuropsychology and neurology as a means of fostering interests in "neuropsychiatry." My research initially dealt with Huntington's disease and Tourette's syndrome, and to a lesser extent, Alzheimer's disease. Questions arising in clinical settings drew attention to the cognitive impairments of psychiatric patients, especially those with depression and "pseudo-dementia." This led to a series of studies of depression in later life, especially related to its neuropsychological features, and the interface between mood disorders and general medical conditions. I again began to consider, together with many outstanding colleagues, the factors that contribute to suicide among elders. Suicide research and prevention gradually became my central interest for investigation during the past two decades, and for national and international consultation. This is an area where it has been possible to integrate biological, psychological, pathological, social, cultural, and public health perspectives in a single problem focus. Reducing the mortality and morbidity of suicide across the course of life has become the entry key to the nascent field of "public health and preventive psychiatry."

During the 1980s, I also clarified my 'most favorite' role as an educator, specifically, working with post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty as a mentor, viewing the time after residency training or receipt of a Ph.D. as a critical period in the life of a would-be academic. My greatest personal career rewards in medicine, in addition to those related to patient care, have come from supporting this developmental process and seeing several generations of faculty emerge in their own right as outstanding researchers, educators, and clinicians.

Presently I direct five NIH grants — The Center for Public Health and Population Interventions for Preventing Suicide ("PHP-Center," NIMH/NIDA P20); the China-Rochester Suicide Research Training ICOHRTA (NIH Fogarty International Center D43); China Collaborative Suicide Research Training Program (CCSRT; NIH Fogarty International Center D43); Suicide Research and Prevention Mental Health Research Education Grant (NIMH R25); and Institutional National Research Service Award (NIMH T32).