Catatonia, a syndrome characterized by muscular rigidity and a trance-like mental stupor, can at times manifest with great excitement and confusion. And while it is often associated with schizophrenia, it can present in patients with either medical or psychiatric conditions. For this reason, the condition has often confused clinicians.

A “transformational” $6.4 million gift from Dallas couple Donald Test Jr., and his wife, Charlotte, who have a very personal connection to the devastating disease of schizophrenia, is supporting Vanderbilt Department of Psychiatry research and treatment into schizophrenia and related disorders.

Vanderbilt investigators have used a computational biology approach to uncover new cancer drivers and biomarkers of anticancer drug response.

Harsh Trivedi, M.D., MBA, associate professor of Psychiatry, vice chair for Clinical Affairs for Vanderbilt’s Department of Psychiatry, and executive director and chief medical officer of Vanderbilt Behavioral Health, has been selected to serve on the American Hospital Association’s Governing Council on Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Services.

Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder share common genetic underpinnings. Vanderbilt researchers combined high-resolution gene expression studies with gene association data to reveal signaling pathways linked to schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

Stephan Heckers, M.D., M.Sc., William P. and Henry B. Test Professor of Schizophrenia Research and chair of the Department of Psychiatry, has been named the next editor-in-chief of JAMA Psychiatry, one of nine specialty journals in the JAMA Network.

It may be possible to use skin cells as biomarkers to diagnose and manage depression.