Clinical Trials of Antidepressants

Introduction.- Why Now the Need for a New Clinical Trial Model for Antidepressants?.- Reconceptualizing Depression and the Componential-Specific Model of Clinical Trials.- Aims and Basic requirements of Clinical Trials: Conventional and Component-Specific Models.- Methods for Measuring the Components and Profile of Drug Actions: The Multivantaged Approach.- The Component-Specific Model Applied in a Clinical Trial: An Example.- Comparing the Component-Specific Model Directly with the Established Diagnosis-Specific Trial.- Prediction and Shortening the Clinical Trial: Further Advantages of the Component-Specific Model.- The Video Clinical Trial and the VIBES Method.- Conclusions.

Martin M. Katzreceived his A.B. degree in Chemistry at Brooklyn College and his Ph.D. fromthe University of Texas in Psychology and Physiology. From 1958 to 1968, heserved in the National Institute of Mental Health's (NIMH as ExecutiveSecretary of its first Psychopharmacology Advisory Committee, then, in 1965, asHead of its Special Studies section in Psychopharmacology. In 1968 he wasappointed Chief, of the Institute's Clinical Research Branch, a new programcharged with expanding research on the causes and treatment of schizophreniaand the affective disorders. It initiated national conferences and developedCollaborative Programs on the Psychobiology of Depression laying the groundworkfor the new DSM and large scale testing of the new biochemical theories of thegenesis of the disorders. The Biology and Clinical Collaborative Programscreated by Dr. Katz and Branch Staff (1970-1978), were responsible for thetraining of many young investigators, and provided needed methodology forexpanding research in these fields. The Clinical Aspect of the Program wasstill, thirty years later, in operation under an NIMH grant. In 1984, he joinedthe Psychiatry faculty at Albert Einstein College of Medicine as Professorestablishing the first Division of Psychology and Laboratory of Psychopathologyat the College. Since 1996, he has been Adjunct Research Professor in theDepartment of Psychiatry, University of Texas Health Science Center at SanAntonio, where he has conducted grant-supported research on the "BiologicalAspects of Depression" and the neurobehavioral mechanisms of action ofantidepressant drugs.