Lori Altshuler, Leading Figure in American Psychiatry, 1957–2015
We are sad to report the death of Dr. Lori Altshuler, one of the leading figures in American psychiatry. She passed away last month after a 10-year battle with cancer. She was the director of the Mood Disorders Research Program at UCLA and a founding member of the Bipolar Collaborative Network, which included US sites in Los Angeles, Dallas, Cinncinatti, and Bethesda and European sites in Utrecht, Freiberg, and Munich, and spawned the BNN newsletter.
Dr. Altshuler made important contributions to the understanding of bipolar disorder, particularly with her work on brain imaging. She also conducted countless treatment studies so that patients could be treated based on the best available evidence.
After funding for the Bipolar Collaborative Network ended in 2002, she organized all of the researchers to continue working together, and this resulted in more than 90 publications from the group. Her tireless and heroic efforts to improve the lives of people with bipolar disorder will be sorely missed.
