By: Bre Anne Briskey, Bicentennial Graduate Assistant
The Institute of Psychiatric Research (IPR) building has long stood as a symbol for ground breaking medical advancements in psychiatry.
For over 50 years the institute served as the center for psychiatric research at the Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM), extending the boundaries and deepening the understanding of psychiatric disorders and the bio-neural mechanisms.[1]
Creating the Institute of Psychiatric Research
Although the department of psychiatry at the IUSM was first organized in 1935, it took over two decades before the department had its own building.
During the early 1950s, the Commissioner of Mental Health, Dr. Margaret Morgan, organized and planned for the creation of a building to house the department. She successfully recruited and secured support for the structure from influential people in the state, such as IU President Herman B Wells, Dean of the Medical School John Van Nuys, and Indiana governor George Craig.
Morgan’s hard work and dedication paid off when enough funds were raised to build the new institute and construction commenced in 1955.[2]
Construction for the building finished in 1956 and on December 13, 1956, the building was dedicated. The institute opened up in 1957; it was equipped with state of the art research laboratories, animal facilities, mechanical/electronic shops, and was connected to the State Mental Hospital through a tunnel.[3]
John I. Nurnberger: 1956-73
While ground breaking for the -institute began in 1955, the institute needed a director. After a long search, John I. Nurnberger Sr. joined as director in 1956.[4] As director, he helped to chair the initial faculty, who were composed of biochemists and experimental psychologists.[5]
One of the hallmarks during this period was the usage of animal models to understand the brain circuitry. Due to this research, the researchers developed a better understanding of the brain and disease.[6]
During the Nurnberger years, Marion K. DeMyer joined the faculty. As a pioneering researcher in autism and schizophrenia, she helped to reclassify autism from a mental illness to a neurodevelopmental disorder. She also conducted MRI scans of patients who had schizophrenia and showed the abnormal brain structure.[7]
Morris H. Aprison: 1974-78
When Nurnberger stepped down as chair in 1974, the department looked inwards and chose Morris H. Aprison.[8]
Aprison was part of the original IPR faculty during the late 1950s. During his four year tenue, Aprison was vital in numerous studies that expanded the understanding of bio-neural mechanisms. He established criteria to identity neurotransmitters, worked with Robert Werman to discover that glycine was another neurotransmitter, and was a major contributor in developing an animal model of depression with Joseph N. Hingtgen.
Consequently, Aprison and the institute gained international recognition for novel studies on behavioral depression and serotonin levels in the brain.[9]
Hugh C. Hendrie: 1978-86
After four years as director of the institute, Aprison retired in 1978 and the next person to lead it was Hugh C. Hendrie. Hendrie came to the institute from the Wayne State School of Medicine in Detroit, MI in 1975.[10]
Under his tenue, Hendrie connected the institute to the Indiana Alzheimer Disease Center as he was its codirector.[11] He also pioneered a longitudinal study, with K. Hall, on examining Alzheimer’s and its incidence, prevalence, and risk factors in the Black community in Indianapolis and in Africans in Nigeria.[12] As this study was one of the few cross-cultural studies on Alzheimer’s research, Hendrie aided the institute in addressing that research gap. [13]
John I. Nurnberger, Jr., 1986-Present
When Hendrie stepped down as director of the institute, the son of the institute’s first director, John Nurnberger, Jr., followed in his father’s footsteps and became the new director in 1986. Under his guidance, the institute flourished. The institute received around $3 million in external funding for projects on bipolar disorder, alcoholism, Alzheimer’s and anxiety disorders.[14]
He ensured that the institute became a leader in developing psychiatric genetics as an international discipline, in developing research programs on molecular genetics of bipolar disorder, alcoholism and autism spectrum disorder, and identifying factors in adolescents’ mental health that are risk and protective factors.[15]
During the 1990s, the institute grew. One of the faculty members, Debomoy K. Lahiri, established the Laboratory of Molecular Neurogenetics. This laboratory pioneered the study of molecular causes of Alzheimer’s e and bipolar depression through the usage of cellular models, along with developing new genomic DNA techniques, and guided research on the molecules involved in age-related disorders: amyloid plaque biogenesis and neuroprotective.[16]
Another faculty member, Anantha Shekhar, developed an animal model for panic disorder and discovered the neuronal dysfunctions that underly panic attacks and anxieties. To accommodate the multitude of ongoing research, the institute underwent a renovation during the 2000s to remodel the building’s basement into new laboratory and office spaces.[17]
A New Future: The Neurosciences Research Building
hile the institute served as a vital research center to the IUSM for over 50 years, the institute was outgrowing its space. In 2007, the Indiana University Board of Trustees approved the creation of a new building to expand the space for laboratory research, as well as to enhance the university’s research capability in the biomedical and life science fields.[18]
In 2010, a design for the building was created, with the location being at 16th Street and Senate Avenue, near the IU Methodist Hospital campus.[19]
In the fall of 2012, IU President Michael McRobie broke ground for the new research building. The building was designed to provide a central location for researchers from the Institute of Psychiatric Research, along with the Stark Neurosciences Research Institute, to perform neuroscience research in state of the art facilities.[20]
Almost two years after breaking ground, construction finished for the building in the spring of 2014 and a dedication ceremony was held that fall. The connection between the Neurosciences Research Building with Goodman Hall and the IU Health Neuroscience Center allowed for collaboration and innovate research inquires, which betters future physicians and scientists.[21]
The establishment of a new building to house the institute meant that its original building was no longer needed. Consequently, the building was razed to make room for the Eskenazi Hospital. Despite this, the Institute of Psychiatric Research is still active and continuing its legacy of pioneering work, generating new knowledge on understanding, treating, and preventing brain disorders.[22]
For further information about hidden figures within the history of psychiatry at Indiana University, read more about Clare Assue and Nancy Roeske, who were both associated with the Department of Psychiatry at Indiana University School of Medicine throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.
Bibliography
- “Groundbreaking ceremony set as construction begins on IU neurosciences research facility.” IU School of Medicine Newsroom. 03 August 2012. URL: https://medicine.iu.edu/news/2012/08/groundbreaking-ceremony-set-as-construction-begins-on-iu-neurosciences-research-facility.
- “The Institute of Psychiatric Research: A Historical Perspective form the 1950s to the 2000s,” (Powerpoint).
- IU Trustee Minutes, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington.
- Lahiri, Debomoy K. and John I. Nurnberger. “Farewell to the Institute of Psychiatric Research (IPR) building, and moving brain research forward.” (2020).
- Nurnberger, John I., Hugh C. Hemdrie, et al., “History of the Department of Psychiatry.” IUPUI Archives. 2010, URL: https://archives.iupui.edu/bitstream/handle/2450/11493/Psychiatryhist.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
- “Research Partners,” Neuroscience, 12 July 2017, accessed 01 June 2020. URL: https://neuroscience.iupui.edu/neuroscience/research/partners.
- “State-of-the-art IU Neuroscience Research Building to be dedicated Wednesday.” IU School of Medicine Newsroom. 01 October 2014. URL: https://medicine.iu.edu/news/2014/10/neuroscience-dedication-1.
Notes
[1] “Research Partners,” Neuroscience, 12 July 2017, accessed 01 June 2020. URL: https://neuroscience.iupui.edu/neuroscience/research/partners.
[2] John I. Nurnberger, Hugh C. Hemdrie, et al., “History of the Department of Psychiatry,” IUPUI Archives, 2010, URL: https://archives.iupui.edu/bitstream/handle/2450/11493/Psychiatryhist.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
[3] “The Institute of Psychiatric Research: A Historical Perspective form the 1950s to the 2000s,” (Powerpoint).
[4] John I. Nurnberger, Hugh C. Hemdrie, et al., “History of the Department of Psychiatry,” IUPUI Archives, 2010, URL: https://archives.iupui.edu/bitstream/handle/2450/11493/Psychiatryhist.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
[5] “The Institute of Psychiatric Research: A Historical Perspective form the 1950s to the 2000s,” (Powerpoint).
[6] “The Institute of Psychiatric Research: A Historical Perspective form the 1950s to the 2000s,” (Powerpoint).
[7] “The Institute of Psychiatric Research: A Historical Perspective form the 1950s to the 2000s,” (Powerpoint).
[8] IU Trustee Minutes, 20 April 1974, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington, URL: http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/iubot/view?docId=1974-04-20.xml&chunk.id=d1e1337&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d1e1337&brand=iubot&text1=John%20Nurnberger%20&op1=and&op2=and&field1=text&field2=text&field3=text&startDoc=1#.
[9] “The Institute of Psychiatric Research: A Historical Perspective form the 1950s to the 2000s,” (Powerpoint).
[10] John I. Nurnberger, Hugh C. Hemdrie, et al., “History of the Department of Psychiatry,” IUPUI Archives, 2010, URL: https://archives.iupui.edu/bitstream/handle/2450/11493/Psychiatryhist.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
[11] “The Institute of Psychiatric Research: A Historical Perspective form the 1950s to the 2000s,” (Powerpoint).
[12] “The Institute of Psychiatric Research: A Historical Perspective form the 1950s to the 2000s,” (Powerpoint).
[13] IU Trustee Minutes, 06 April 2001, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington, URL: http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/iubot/view?docId=2001-04-06.xml&chunk.id=d1e300&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d1e300&brand=iubot&text1=hugh%20hendrie&op1=and&op2=and&field1=text&field2=text&field3=text&startDoc=1#.
[14] John I. Nurnberger, Hugh C. Hemdrie, et al., “History of the Department of Psychiatry,” IUPUI Archives, 2010, URL: https://archives.iupui.edu/bitstream/handle/2450/11493/Psychiatryhist.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.
[15] “The Institute of Psychiatric Research: A Historical Perspective form the 1950s to the 2000s,” (Powerpoint).
[16] “The Institute of Psychiatric Research: A Historical Perspective form the 1950s to the 2000s,” (Powerpoint).
[17] “The Institute of Psychiatric Research: A Historical Perspective form the 1950s to the 2000s,” (Powerpoint).
[18] IU Trustee Minutes, 22 June 2007, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington, URL: http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/iubot/view?docId=2007-06-22.xml&chunk.id=d1e216&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d1e216&brand=iubot&text1=Neuroscience%20Research%20Building%20&op1=and&op2=and&field1=text&field2=text&field3=text&startDoc=21#.
[19] IU Trustee Minutes, 10 December 2010, Indiana University Archives, Bloomington, URL: http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/iubot/view?docId=2010-12-10.xml&chunk.id=d1e275&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d1e275&brand=iubot&text1=Neuroscience%20Research%20Building%20&op1=and&op2=and&field1=text&field2=text&field3=text&startDoc=1#.
[20] “Groundbreaking ceremony set as construction begins on IU neurosciences research facility,” IU School of Medicine Newsroom, 03 August 2012, URL: https://medicine.iu.edu/news/2012/08/groundbreaking-ceremony-set-as-construction-begins-on-iu-neurosciences-research-facility.
[21] “State-of-the-art IU Neuroscience Research Building to be dedicated Wednesday,” IU School of Medicine Newsroom, 01 October 2014, URL: https://medicine.iu.edu/news/2014/10/neuroscience-dedication-1.
[22] Debomoy K. Lahiri and John I. Nurnberger, “Farewell to the Institute of Psychiatric Research (IPR) building, and moving brain research forward,” 2020.