Meeting Summary
NCDEU Meeting
June 1, 2006
Boca Raton, Florida
Named after the original NIMH New Clinical Drug Evaluation Unit clinical trials program, the NCDEU meeting has grown and evolved over the years to include a broad range of academic and industry investigators, practitioners, and NIMH and FDA staff. The 46th annual NCDEU meeting was sponsored by NIMH and cosponsored for the first time by the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology. Attendance at this year's meeting exceeded 1,200 individuals, including 15 winners of the competitive New Investigators' Award. With a theme of Large Clinical Trials and Evidence-Based Practice, the latest advances in clinical treatment research, with an emphasis on methodology, were presented and discussed in a series of panels, workshops, and other oral and poster sessions. NIMH-sponsored research and research support were highlighted in the plenary session, The Value and Limitations of Large Practical Clinical Trials in Informing Practice; this session featured investigators representing four, large, practical trials, who answered questions by stakeholders and explained the significance of these studies to "real world" clinical practice. Other sessions featured NIMH staff describing aspects of Institute funding programs and the peer review process. Concluding with the FDA symposium, the meeting continues to offer a valuable opportunity for NIMH/FDA discussion and collaboration. For more information, please contact Dr. Matthew Rudorfer.
