The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has awarded John Brekke, Ph.D., the Frances G. Larson Professor of Social Work Research at the USC School of Social Work and director of the Hamovitch Center for Science in the Human Services, a $3-million-multi-year grant to increase the effectiveness of community mental health rehabilitation. The proposed project, entitled "Biosocial Factors in Rehabilitation of Schizophrenia," aims to quickly move research findings into active care settings.

"By rapidly putting into practice what we learn through clinical research about effective treatment interventions, we are confident that we will be able to enhance resiliency and promote recovery for individuals with schizophrenia," said Dr. Brekke, a well-known researcher in the field of community treatment for people with severe persistent mental illnesses, who will serve as the study's principal investigator.

Dr. Brekke will partner with PORTALS, a nationally recognized community-based mental health rehabilitation agency in Los Angeles, to build a shared research infrastructure, disseminate evidence-based practices into agency settings and assess their effectiveness, as well as expedite 'research to practice' efforts by providing study discoveries to consumers and service providers administering programs in typical community rehabilitation settings.

"Recent mental health studies point to a serious gap between what is known from clinical research regarding mental disorders and their treatment and what services actually are provided to consumers in practice," he said.

The need is particularly great for individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia. Of the major mental illnesses, schizophrenia is the costliest in terms of expenditures for treatment, rehabilitation programs and individual losses caused by ongoing functional disabilities.

The PORTALS affiliation began in 1989 with Dr. Brekke's research team exploring how the PORTALS' psychosocial rehabilitation model for service delivery affected its members with schizophrenia. PORTALS has been the study site for three NIMH grant-funded projects headed by Dr. Brekke, resulting in more than 30 scientific publications. PORTALS' role within this current study will change from a recruitment site for study participants to a community research partner.

"This NIMH grant-funded project represents a tremendous opportunity for PORTALS as we continue to inform our practice through research involvement. I look forward to sharing the results of this research study with our community mental health partnering agencies," said Jim Balla, president and CEO, PORTALS.

The study team also includes Co-principal Investigator Robert Kern, Ph.D., associate research psychologist at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute; Co-principal Investigators Jana Plasters, M.F.T., clinical director, PORTALS, and Laura Pancake, L.C.S.W., PORTALS.