The Center for

Human Development Research

CHDR NEWS ARCHIVE 1999 - 2001

Kathryn J. Kotrla, M.D., Chief of Psychiatry at the Ben Taub General Hospital and Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine was honored by the Mental Health Association of Houston and Harris County for her outstanding work in support of persons with mental illness. She received the 2000 Mental Health Association of Greater Houston "Medical Champion for Patients" Award at a luncheon given by the MHA on April 6, 2001. In addition to her work to improve the quality and availability of services to persons with mental illness in our community, Dr. Kotrla is an active researcher. Her studies underway at the Ben Taub Hospital, the Veterans Administration Hospital, the Lyndon Baines Johnson Hospital, and Baylor College of Medicine are examining the neural basis of disorders such as schizophrenia, autism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. 

Lynne A. Cleveland, CHDR Research Coordinator and Community Liaison, was honored as the UT Medical School - Houston's Employee of the Year for the year 2000. Lynne received the award from Dean Max Buja, M.D. at a reception on December, 14, 2000. 

Emese Nagy, M.D., postdoctoral research fellow at CHDR, received a first place prize at the 2000 Annual Poster Session for the UT Houston Neuroscience Research Center. Dr. Nagy's poster presentation was titled "Homo Imitans and Homo Provocans: On the phenomenon of inborn initiative capacity". She received $150 as recognition for her achievement. 

Dr. Laura Ferguson, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at UT Houston Medical School, and co-investigator on the Study of Autism and the Brain, is the director of a new, enhanced pediatric facility to serve children in east Houston, in collaboration with the Parkview Pediatric Clinic, 7444 Harrisburg. The new clinic is affiliated with University Care Plus, the UT Medical School clinical practice. Appointments can be made by calling 713-924-6988. 

Dr Donald M. Dougherty of the University of Texas, Houston Medical School Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure, as of Fall 2000. 

Dr. David M. Lane of Rice University (Department of Psychology) is Principal Investigator of a new grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a web-based multimedia textbook in behavioral neuroscience. For more information see the abstract of this interesting project.  

Dr. Michael E. Brandt (UT Houston Dept. of Health Informatics, School of Health Information Sciences) is the director of the Houston site for a new NIH-funded study that will develop an international database of Magnetic Resonance images of normally developing brains. This database, which will also include neuropsychological testing, will cover participants aged 4 to 18 years and will be available for comparison to other datasets derived from studies of brain disorders. The study will last for six years and will include 550 participants from seven centers. Dr. Brandt is the director of the Neurosignal Analysis Laboratory at UT Houston. 

Harris County Psychiatric Center has received a grant for $500,000 from the Texas Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board to support a telemedicine project (“Priority Children: An Urban/Rural Intervention Collaborative”) that will benefit at-risk children across Texas. For more information see the story in UT - Houston. 

CHDR Research Coordinator Lynne A. Cleveland was selected to receive the 1999 Research Award from the Texas Association on Mental Retardation (T.A.M.R.), for outstanding contributions to research in the field of Mental Retardation. The award was presented at the the TAMR conference, July 21st, 1999 in Arlington, Texas. This award recognized Lynne's many years of work in support of research that benefits
people with mental retardation and other developmental differences. 

Also.....Research Coordinator Lynne A. Cleveland honored for her advocacy for persons with mental retardation. 

The University of Texas - Houston Medical School Center for Human Development Research is now seeking research participants for studies on autism, attention deficit disorder and conduct disorder.  

Questions? For more information call 713-500-2580 or visit our page on Research Opportunities.

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