By Martin M. Katz

The Psychopharmacology Service Center (PSC) was a program of the National Institue of Mental Health (NIMH). It was created by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) from the 2 million dollars appropriated by the US Congress in 1956 to initiate a grants program and national effort to stimulate research and treatment in the application of new psychotropic drugs.  Jonathon Cole, a young psychiatrist, was appointed to lead the Center with the guidance of a National Advisory Committee, chaired by Ralph Gerard (Cole 2011; Katz 2011).  The Center initiated a basic research grants program, conducted a nationwide Collaborative Project to evaluate the new drugs (NIMH Collaborative Studies in Psychopharmacology), created the Early Clinical Drug Evaluation Unit (ECDEU) network to develop new drugs, and published a new periodical, the Psychopharmacology Bulletin. The name of the Center was changed in 1965 and established at the NIMH as the Psychopharmacology Research Branch.

Cole JO interviewed by Ban TA in An Oral History of Neuropsychopharmacology - The First Fifty Years:  Peer Interviews (Thomas A. Ban, editor), Volume 12- "History of the CINP” (Martin M. Katz, volume editor). Nashville: American College of Neuropsychopharmacology; 2011. p. 45-53.

Katz MM interviewed by Ban TA in An Oral History of Neuropsychopharmacology - The First Fifty Years:  Peer Interviews (Thomas A. Ban, editor), Volume 12- "History of the ACNP” (Martin M. Katz, volume editor). Nashville: American College of Neuropsychopharmacology; 2011. p. 77-81.

Martin M. Katz

October 30, 2014