clinical and translational research, was named chair, Department of Pediatrics, effective June 1, 2017. Dr. Radovick joined Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in 2015, and she was also named a chancellor scholar at Rutgers Bio- medical and Health Sciences. During her tenure, Dr. Radovick formed collabo- rative research groups consisting of faculty mem- bers across a spectrum of expertise to facilitate suc- cessful investigator-initiated and training grant submis- sions and to mentor junior colleagues. increased by more than 50 percent and investigator- initiated protocols more than doubled. In addition, she led the development of a metabolomics core as a cooperative venture by the medical school, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, and Princeton University. Dr. Radovick has been instrumental in the creation of the new state-of-the-art adult Clinical Research Center facility located in Robert Hospital. In addition, she supported the successful submission of the Accred- itation Council for Graduation Medical Education fellowship train- ing program in pediatric the medical school in March 2016. development disor- ders, Dr. Radovick focuses her research program on steroids that control sexual as well as on neurotrans- mitters and growth factors. Her laboratory has eluci- dated some of the factors that control gonadotropin- releasing hormone (GnRH) gene expression and the intracellular signaling pathways within the GnRH neuron and has demon- strated that the GnRH gene is the target of growth factor and nuclear hormone signaling pathways, which link nutrition and growth with pubertal development and reproduction. native to a region in has far greater rates of sui- cide than average. A con- sortium of investigators that includes cine and associate dean for global health, who grew up in this region and will serve as a key link between the U.S. and Colombian re- searchers, was re- cently awarded a $5.5 million re- search grant by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) to study the relationship between genetics and behavioral disorders in the Paisa popu- lation. Dr. Escobar believes that a better understanding of the origins of mental ill- ness will lead to enhanced and more personalized treatment for patients around the globe. late" because the people have been living in the same area for generations, have a high frequency of marrying within the extended family, and show unique genetic characteristics, all of which facilitate studies. Large genetic studies like this are limited in the United States, which rarely has specific the same location over long periods of time, thus help- ing to determine which fac- tors are environmental or genetic. order Collaboration in Psy- chiatric Genetics," will study 8,000 members of the Paisa population who suffer from severe mental disor- ders, with a group of 2,000 without mental ill- ness used for com- parison. Research- ers will work with physicians at the hospital in Manizales to assess symptoms, traits, and markers of severe mental be traced to specific genetic markers. treatment," says Dr. Escobar. "Our study will help deter- mine symptoms that are more predictable and meas- urable, and may relate to a certain genetic influence. This eventually may lead to a better way to classify patients with mental disor- ders and adapt treatments there in Colombia, and throughout the world." This grant is the largest RO1 award given by the NIMH this year. Genetic Causes for Mental Illness O E M R S O T E V E H S T E I N |