Grand Rounds: The Future of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)

About this event

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is a highly influential document which promulgates the current psychiatric nosology for the entire field. In this talk, Dost Öngür MD, PhD, will review the history of the DSM tradition, common critiques of the current DSM, and some suggestions about ways to improve it. Next, he will discuss the recently formed Future DSM Committee and the Structure and Dimensions subcommittee and explore the current proposals being considered by the Committee. In particular, he will explain the Diagnostic Construction framework that may complement the diagnostic categories and symptom checklist criteria.

A native of Istanbul, Turkey, Dr. Öngür obtained his M.D./Ph.D. degree from Washington University in St. Louis and psychiatric residency training at the MGH/McLean Adult Psychiatry program. He is currently the William P. and Henry B. Test Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Chief of the Psychotic Disorders Division at McLean Hospital. Dr. Öngür is the author of more than 300 articles on research into neurobiology, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. His research uses brain imaging approaches to probe brain abnormalities in psychotic disorders as well as clinical studies to understand the trajectories of illness in early phases of these disorders. He is currently the principal investigator of a P50 Center grant from the NIMH focused on early psychosis research. He is also an active clinician and administrator responsible for all clinical services serving patients with psychotic disorders at McLean. For his teaching and mentoring, Dr. Öngür has won awards from McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the Kempf Award from the APA. He has served on Council for ACNP, SOBP and SIRS, on the Scientific Council for NARSAD/BBRF, and he is the current President of the Society of Biological Psychiatry. He also serves on the Future DSM Committee for the American Psychiatry Association. Finally, he is the Editor in Chief of JAMA Psychiatry, a premier journal in the field.