Meeting On Viral Origins Of Psychiatric Conditions

The meeting brings together researchers from many fields who are interested in the role that viruses may play in the development of these disorders. Last year's meeting included researchers from the U.S., Canada, Finland, Japan, Sweden, Italy, Poland, Israel, Russia, and Jamaica.

"There have been questions about the viral origins of these conditions for nearly a century," says Robert Yolken, M.D., who heads the laboratory and is the director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center. "After the influenza epidemic in 1918, doctors noticed symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder in some of the patients recovering from the flu. But so far we don't have a clear handle on how a virus could lead to these types of neuropsychiatric disorders."

Subjects at this year's meeting include the epidemiology of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder; viruses as triggers for immune dysfunction; antiviral properties of antipsychotic drugs; the effects of viruses on neurotransmitters; molecular virology, and viral models for central nervous system function and pathology. The meeting will be held at the Bethesda Marriott, 5151 Pooks Hill Rd., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. There is no registration fee. Press can pre-register or get more information by calling Nancy Volkers at (410) 223-1747 or e-mailing nvolkers@welchlink.welch.jhu.edu. The Stanley Laboratory is funded by the Theodore and Vada Stanley Foundation. The lab is online at www.stanleylab.org.