SAN ANTONIO (Oct. 16, 2008)—Charles L. Bowden, M.D., a clinical professor of psychiatry at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio who has led 80 research studies of bipolar disorders and mood-stabilizing medications, will receive the NARSAD Falcone Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Mood Disorders Research this week.
NARSAD, the world’s leading charity dedicated to mental health research, will hold its 21st annual New York City gala tomorrow (Friday, Oct. 17). Six scientists including Dr. Bowden will receive their awards at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. NARSAD’s 109-member Scientific Council, a volunteer body of leading experts in mental health research, selected the winners.
Dr. Bowden, one of two eminent researchers to win the Falcone Prize this year, will receive $25,000. He occupies the Nancy U. Karren Endowed Chair of Psychiatry in the Health Science Center School of Medicine and is a clinical professor in three departments: psychiatry, pharmacology and radiology. He is the former chairman of the Department of Psychiatry.
Dr. Bowden’s research has defined the symptoms and biology of bipolar disorders, and he has contributed major new understandings about the effectiveness and biochemical and physiological effects of mood-stabilizing drugs.
“The selection of Charles Bowden, M.D., for the prestigious Falcone Prize confirms his status as one of the most influential psychiatric researchers in the world,” said Pedro L. Delgado, M.D., professor and Dielmann Distinguished Chair of the Health Science Center Department of Psychiatry and professor of pharmacology. “His groundbreaking studies with valproic acid (brand names include Depakote) led to a dramatic improvement in the treatment of people with bipolar disorder. We are very fortunate and deeply honored to be able to work with him.”
Robert M. Post, M.D., professor of psychiatry at Penn State College of Medicine and head of the Bipolar Collaborative Network, chaired the 2008 NARSAD Falcone Prize Selection Committee. About Dr. Bowden’s work, he wrote:
“Charles Bowden has made outstanding contributions throughout his career to improve understanding and treatment of bipolar disorders. Many of the newest treatments have been studied by him in tightly designed, randomized, controlled clinical trials that have then allowed their approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and wide dissemination to patients.
“These agents have vastly enlarged our treatment armamentarium and provided new options for patients with bipolar disorder who have not responded well to other approaches to achieve substantial improvement or remission. For his sustained and multiple contributions to the therapeutics of bipolar disorder, he is most deservingly recognized with the Nola Maddox Falcone Award.”
The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is the leading research institution in South Texas and one of the major health sciences universities in the world. With an operating budget of $668 million, the Health Science Center is the chief catalyst for the $15.3 billion biosciences and health care sector in San Antonio’s economy. The Health Science Center has had an estimated $35 billion impact on the region since inception and has expanded to six campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. More than 23,000 graduates (physicians, dentists, nurses, scientists and other health professionals) serve in their fields, including many in Texas. Health Science Center faculty are international leaders in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, aging, stroke prevention, kidney disease, orthopaedics, research imaging, transplant surgery, psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, pain management, genetics, nursing, dentistry and many other fields. For more information, visit www.uthscsa.edu.