House Resolution 7

(As Adopted by House)

A RESOLUTION COMMENDING DR. ANGELOS E. HALARIS FOR DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE OF NEUROPSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY (CINP) RESEARCH MENTOR PROGRAM.

WHEREAS, Dr. Angelos E. Halaris, Professor and Chairman of Psychiatry at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMC), in 1999, founded the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) Research Mentor Program, dedicated to assisting scientists in developing countries in sharpening their skills and advancing their careers in the field of neuropsychopharmacology; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Halaris' vision of CINP was initially conceptualized along with Dr. Stephen Stahl of the University of California, San Diego, who chairs CINP's Education Committee; and

WHEREAS, the starting point of Halaris' and Stahl's idea commenced when the two determined the immense need for promising scientists in developing countries to be educated and mentored in psychopharmacology clinical practice and clinical research; and

WHEREAS, premising the idea of CINP is the belief that by organizing on an international basis the matching of promising scientists with senior established clinician investigators, this could facilitate the fashioning of firm relationships between mentors and mentees, and for that reason, Dr. Halaris set out to accomplish a more interactive approach to the program; and

WHEREAS, to achieve the goal of identifying worldwide participants, Professor Peter Gaszner of the National Institute of Psychiatry in Budapest, Hungary, was selected to co-chair the CINP program with Dr. Halaris; and

WHEREAS, in CINP's early stages, the program consisted of scientific lectures, seminars and workshops conducted within various developing countries, all of which still remain a part of the overall program; and

WHEREAS, the program has targeted all Central and South America areas summarily declared as areas of need, as well as selected far-eastern countries, such as China, Vietnam and Malaysia; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Halaris personally recruited mentors from among his professional colleagues, most of whom were in the United States and a number from UMC, to provide two types of declared working relationships: the level of exchange, being the simplest, and the more complex level of actual laboratory and department hands-on instruction with the mentor and mentee; and

WHEREAS, more than 40 pairs of mentors and mentees from around the world participate in the CINP program; and

WHEREAS, in September 2001, Dr. Halaris attended the regional meeting of CINP in Budapest dedicated to the research mentor program, in which approximately 20 mentees, most of whom are doctors of medicine, presented research findings for which they received guidance from their CINP mentors; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Halaris' assets of organizational and communicational skills and dedication to the discipline of psychiatry were instrumental in his successful accomplishment of instituting the CINP program; and

WHEREAS, this outstanding accomplishment of Dr. Angelos Halaris brings international honor and recognition to his family, his community and the State of Mississippi, and it reflects a great esteem upon his professional abilities:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, That we do hereby commend Dr. Angelos E. Halaris upon the development of the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) Research Mentor Program and wish him great success in his future endeavors.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to Dr. Angelos E. Halaris, University of Mississippi Medical Center and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.