Yale Bulletin and Calendar

March 21, 2008|Volume 36, Number 22

This is just one of many "Doonesbury" strips in which Garry Trudeau showcases
psychological issues that returning veterans face.

Trudeau to be honored for raising
awareness of veterans’ issues

Cartoonist Garry Trudeau will receive the annual Mental Health Research Advocacy Award from Yale School of Medicine on Saturday, April 5, for his outstanding portrayal of the readjustment issues faced by soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Trudeau, a 1970 Yale College graduate and creator of the popular comic strip “Doonesbury,” will be honored at the Department of Psychiatry’s Neuroscience 2008 symposium, “Stress, Resilience and Recovery.”

The symposium will be held 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Harkness Auditorium, Sterling Hall of Medicine, 333 Cedar St.

The award is given annually by the Department of Psychiatry to someone “who has made an important contribution to the effort to advance research designed to improve the lives of people with mental illness,” says Dr. John Krystal, professor of clinical pharmacology and deputy chair for research in psychiatry.

“Our committee felt that the ‘Doonesbury’ comic strip has provided our country with a humorous, but moving, fictional portrayal of the adjustment challenges faced by soldiers returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Krystal says. “In this way, Mr. Trudeau provides millions of Americans with a gut-level appreciation of the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on soldiers and their families as well as the real opportunities for obtaining help with the readjustment process. In so doing, he is ?helping to raise awareness about the importance of PTSD as a national challenge, where investment in treatment and research could have an important and lasting impact.”

The symposium, now in its 17th year, is aimed at mental health professionals as well as consumers and their families throughout the state. Speakers at the event discuss recent advances in basic and clinical neuroscience, as well as the promise for revolutionary advances in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental illness. The presentations are designed for a general audience.

Also sponsoring the event are the Connecticut Mental Health Center, the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, the Yale Mental Health Education Program and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, Connecticut chapter.

The symposium is free and open to the general public. The complete program is available online at www.info.med.yale.edu/psych/events/index.html. For more information, contact Georgia Miller at (203) 974-7723 or georgia.miller@yale.edu.

T H I SW E E K ' SS T O R I E S

Tony Blair to teach Yale course on faith and globalization

Two alumni appointed as successor trustees

Lalli named next master of Jonathan Edwards College

Summit to focus on ways to make campus ‘greener’

Grant to support study of exercise program for women with cancer

Former Yale VP to share message about mentoring

Smelling food ‘fires’ different area of brain than eating it, says study

Exhibition explores ‘mosaic’ of Mexico’s artistic traditions

Yale Rep to stage Oscar Wilde’s play about serial seducers and . . .

One of Italy’s ‘artistic treasures’ on loan to the Yale Art Gallery

Differences in self-esteem and motivation explored in study

Conference to explore how epic heroes of old continue to inspire . . .

Role of scholar activists to be examined at annual . . .

Alumna athlete returns to oversee fundraising, outreach . . .

Winners of Friends of Music Recital Competition to perform . . .

Memorial service for R. Lansing Hicks

Campus Notes