Albert Lasker
Clinical Medical Research Award

Thank you, Dr. Zoghbi, for a wonderful introduction and the Awards Committee for this unique honor.

As the Great Bard once suggested: "All of life is a drama—or the illusion of such." Fortunately the main players in the First Act of my professional drama are here today. My drama started with a (surprising, to me) observation—which Dr. Zoghbi described as my "Eureka experience." At that time, there was regrettably no professional with whom I could discuss this apparent "revelation." Fortunately, I was able to share my ideas with my wife, Phyllis, en route to becoming a judge. She acknowledged that it had logic—but what is the evidence?

I also described this notion to my teenage daughter, Judith (who is now a notable psychologist in her own right), who assured me, "It sounds reasonable, Dad." The question, of course, raised by Phyllis, was, "What is the evidence?"

This posed a problem: Since I had no training in research methodology or statistics, how could I get the evidence?

Fortunately, my good friend Marvin Stein (later distinguished for his work in neuro-immunology) came to my rescue and helped me design a study and prepare a proposal for a research grant to test my theory. With the grant funding in hand I then embarked on a number of studies of depression and later suicide that did provide the evidence for the theory.

In the Second Act in the drama, I developed a therapy on the basis of the theory—later named cognitive therapy. At that time, one of my residents, John Rush (now a highly recognized researcher), said, "You've got a new therapy, Tim, but nobody will believe it until you conduct a clinical trial." I protested that these trials are "backbreaking," and there was no way I could undertake this. But John persevered. I trained other residents in the therapy and he conducted the trial. In time, the study showed positive results in comparison with the antidepressant medication imipramine, the gold standard of the time.

I was very fortunate to attract other talented postdoctoral researchers, and adaptations of cognitive therapy were developed (especially in the United Kingdom) for almost all of the common psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia.

The climax of the Third Act is being played out today. This award is not only a singular honor for me, but also, by implication, to my group of former mentees. It also recognizes that clinical psychological research can meet the rigorous standards of scientific investigation and make an important contribution to the health of the greater community. For my role in that, I am proud and grateful. I thank you all for sharing this climactic moment with me.