Video (Length:  31 min.)

In recognition of Mogens Schou, M.D., Dr.Med.Sci. and his establishment of the first efficacious treatment for bipolar disorder and contributions to the field of psychiatry and the treatment of bipolar disorder over the last fifty years.

2003 Awardees:

Husseini K. Manji, M.D.
Mogens Schou Award for Research

Husseini K. Manji, M.D. is Chief, Laboratory of Molecular Pathophysiology, NIMH. The major focus of his ongoing research is the investigation of disease- and treatment-induced changes in gene and protein expression profiles that regulate neuroplasticity and cellular resilience in mood disorders. In broad terms, his laboratories’ scientific goals are to capitalize upon recent insights into our understanding of the signaling pathways mediating the effects of mood stabilizers, in order to understand the pathophysiology of severe mood disorders and to develop improved therapeutics. He has received ongoing research funding from the NIH, Private Foundations, and pharmaceutical industry for his work on signaling pathways, gene expression and new medication development for severe mood disorders.

Dr. Manji is the recipient of numerous prestigious awards for his research. He has published extensively on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of action of mood-stabilizing agents, and has edited a book on the mechanisms of action of antibipolar treatments. He is currently the editor of a number of journals, a member of many professional organizations and advisory boards, and the chair of scientific committees for ACNP and NIMH.

Kay Redfield Jamison, Ph.D.
Mogens Schou Award for Education

Kay Redfield Jamison is Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Honorary Professor of English at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. She was formerly the director of the UCLA Affective Disorders Clinic. Dr. Jamison is the coauthor of the standard medical text on manic-depressive illness, which was chosen in 1990 as the Most Outstanding Book in Biomedical Sciences by the American Association of Publishers, and author of Touched with Fire, An Unquiet Mind, and NIght Falls Fast. Her memoir about her experiences with manic-depressive illness, An Unquiet Mind, was selected by The Boston Globe, Entertainment Weekly, and the Seattle Post Intelligence as one of the best books of 1995. An Unquiet Mind was on The New York Times Bestseller List for more than five months and translated into fifteen languages. Her most recent book, Night Falls Fast: Understanding Suicide, was a national bestseller, translated into twelve languages, and selected by The New York Times as a Notable Book of 1999.

Among her many awards and honors, Dr. Jamison was selected as UCLA Woman of Science and has been cited as one of the "Best Doctors in the United States". She has been awarded numerous honorary degrees, was selected as one of five individuals for the public television series, "Great Minds of Medicine", and chosen by Time magazine as a "Hero of Medicine." In addition, she is the executive producer and writer for a series of award-winning public television specials about manic-depressive illness and the arts.

Waltraud E. Prechter
Mogens Schou Award for Distinguished Service

Waltraud Prechter is President and Founder of The Heinz C. Prechter Fund for Manic Depression. For a quarter century, Ms. Prechter served as the closest business advisor and confident to her late husband and entrepreneurial visionary Heinz C. Prechter, quietly helping build the business empire that was Prechter Holdings.

Ms. Prechter established the non-profit Heinz C. Prechter Fund for Manic Depression in memory of her late husband to advance breakthrough medical research to help develop cures for bipolar disorder. Industrialist Heinz Prechter introduced the sunroof to America and built his one-man enterprise into a global group of companies. He suffered from intermittent bouts of manic depression for most of his adult life and fell victim to suicide at the age of 59 in July 2001.

Since the formation of the Fund, Ms. Prechter has emerged as one of the most outspoken and effective mental health advocates in the United States. She was instrumental in establishing the Depression Center at the University of Michigan, the first of its kind in the nation. She serves on the Depression Center's National Advisory Board as well as on the Board of The Commonwealth Center of Excellence for Bipolar Disorder at the Western Psychiatric Clinic in Pittsburgh.

In addition, Ms. Prechter provided testimony before Congress to increase federal funding for bipolar disorder research and was appointed by President George W. Bush to the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health to help improve the mental health care system in the United States.

In addition to her efforts with The Heinz C. Prechter Fund for Manic Depression, she is President of the World Heritage Foundation, a philanthropic entity the Prechter family established to help make a difference in the areas of health, education, welfare, arts and culture, and the community. She has served as President of the Foundation since it inception in 1985.

Ms. Prechter has also been a positive force in her community, state and country. She serves in leadership positions in numerous civic and charitable organizations, including on the University of Michigan Health Care Advisory Board as well as President's Advisory Group, Georgetown University's Board of Regents, Leukemia Society, Kresge Eye Institute, the Robert and Gerry Ligon Research Center of Vision, on Wayne State University's Detroit Medical Center Women's Clinical Services Board, Henry Ford Wyandotte Hospital, Detroit Symphony Orchestra and the Downriver Council for the Arts.

Born in the Nuremberg region in southern Germany, Ms. Prechter attended the University of Erlangen. She immigrated to the United States in 1977 and completed her education at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Education with honors.

A resident of Grosse Ile, Michigan, Waltraud Prechter is parent to adult twins.

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