User:Psychiatry777/David Shaffer, M.D.

David Shaffer, M.D.

David Shaffer, M.D., F.R.C.P., F.R.C.Psych., is the Irving Philips Professor of Child Psychiatry (and Professor of Department of Psychiatry and Pediatrics) at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in New York City.

Dr. Shaffer obtained his medical training in London. He qualified as a physician at University College, undertook his training in pediatrics at the Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond Street, and trained in psychiatry at the Maudsley Hospital. It was from here that he conducted the first epidemiological study of child and early adolescent suicide using the psychological autopsy method. Unexpected—at the time—findings were the short delay between experiencing a stressor and the act of suicide, the frequency of aggressive behavior, and the suggestions that imitation played a role in youth suicide.

These findings would later be confirmed by his much larger controlled study in New York and by others in the United States and throughout the world. Important findings from the New York Study were the very high prevalence of alcohol and substance abuse in older male teens who committed suicide and the significance of a prior suicide attempt as a predictor in males, but not females, for whom major depression was especially important.

The finding of specific profiles and the almost universal presence of treatable psychiatric disorders among suicide victims suggested that case finding would be a viable method for preventing suicide. However, one approach to this—suicide-awareness educational programs—was found to offer few benefits. This stimulated the development of a screening strategy that led to the development of the Columbia Teen Screen as a technique for case finding that, under the leadership of his colleague Laurie Flynn, became a nationwide program.

Other research interests have included the development of computerized diagnostic instruments. He was charged by the National Institutes of Health (NIMH) to develop a child version of the DIS for use in large field studies. The NIMH DISC was based closely on DSM-III, and subsequent versions were developed for DSM-IIIR and DSM-IV. The DISC incorporated voice technology, thus greatly reducing the cost of administration and allowing self-completion by youth unable to read and obviating the constraining presence of an adult interviewer. The DISC has been translated into nine languages and has been used in approximately two hundred child research projects. Elements of the DISC have been employed by large, multi-site studies, such as the MTA; federally administered regular surveys, such as NHANES; and a number of other longitudinal studies. The availability of the instrument has, for the first time, allowed careful examination of patterns of psychiatric comorbidity and how this emerges over time, a matter of great importance for DSM. The American Psychiatric Association has just funded a grant to Shaffer’s group to reexamine DISC data on twenty-six thousand subjects for the purpose of identifying critical questions for DSM-V.

Dr. Shaffer’s contribution to psychiatric classification dates back to 1966, when he collaborated with Sir Michael Rutter to explore the benefits of a multi-axial system for ICD-9. This would subsequently be adapted for DSM-III. He served on the Child and Adolescent Work Group for DSM-III and DSM-IIIR and was co-chair of that group for DSM-IV. He is currently a member of the Child and Adolescent Work Group and the [Mood Disorders] Work Group for DSM-V and is co-chair of the Disruptive Behaviors Disorder Workgroup for DSM-V.

Dr. Shaffer retired as director of the Division of Child Psychiatry at the New York State Psychiatric Institute (New York State Psychiatric Institute)/Columbia University (CU) in May 2008, but retains his academic position and is actively engaged in research on DSM-V, on the determinants and triggers of suicide ideation, and on the categorization of suicide ideation and behavior in adolescents. During his tenure, the Division of Child Psychiatry at NYSPI/CU grew from a small department serving seven hundred visits a year to one serving over thirty five thousand; from one without research grants to one that holds a portfolio of over $30 million per annum; and from one with four child psychiatrists in training to one that is now the largest in the country, with five endowed chairs, over twenty-four clinical trainees, eight research trainees, and one that serves as host to junior researchers from all continents.

He has served as a consultant on suicide prevention for the U.S. Department of Defense, the Indian Health Service, and the [Nhttp://www.omh.state.ny.us/omhweb/facilities/mapc/facility.ht mew York State Office of Mental Health]. He was a member of the Surgeon General’s Advisory Task Force on Suicide Prevention. He is a past president of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and of the Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology.

The American Psychiatric Association awarded him the McGavin Award in 1995 and the Itteleson award in 2000. In 2007, he received lifetime achievement awards from NARSAD and from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. He received the American Suicide Foundation’s award for research in suicide in 1989 and the American Mental Health Fund Research Award for research on suicide in 1990. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry awarded him the Philips Prize for outstanding contribution to prevention in 1998, the Klingenstein Third-Generation Foundation Award for Research in Depression or Suicide in 2004, and the Catcher in the Rye Award in 2006. In 2009, he received the Joseph Zubin Award from the American Psychopathological Association.

He has previously served as president of the International Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, president of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and president elect of the International Society for Research in Suicide Prevention. He chairs the Work Group on Research for the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

In addition to these research studies, he has contributed to the debate about the relationship between SSRI antidepressants and suicidal behavior for the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Psychiatric Association, and both the American College and the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Sources

Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University

Pediatrics, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University

New York State Psychiatric Institute

Faculty Profile for David Shaffer, M.D.