Laureate Institute for Brain Research

In 1996, the decision was made to establish and maintain long-term, large volume patient databases of descriptors and potential determinants that relate to the development and course of mental disorders in patients presenting to the Laureate Psychiatric Clinic and Hospital (LPCH).

The LPCH has 85,000 psychiatric outpatient visits and 8000 hospitalizations per year, outscoring nearly all other such facilities in the U.S. for easy access to large patient volumes. Recognizing these features as holding unique possibilities for in-depth studies of mental disease, and that the organization and initiation of such studies in a new program were not likely to be funded from other granting sources, The William K. Warren Foundation in Tulsa, Oklahoma, having held a long interest in neuropsychiatric disease, pledged significant financial support, recognizing the long-term, prospective aspects requisite for such a study to yield substantive results.

In 2007, The William K. Warren Foundation initiated the Laureate Institute for Brain Research (LIBR) in which potential biomarkers, including genetic sampling and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of groups defined by partitioning of clinical phenotypes would be added to the longitudinal clinical studies to expand knowledge about the underlying pathogenetic features of mental disorders. The Foundation’s funding has provided ~40,000 sq. ft. of space, an MRI scanner and associated stimulus delivery equipment and an extensive computing network, all research-dedicated.

To address the complexity of neuroscience research, guiding principles in the development of LIBR have been to emphasize multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional involvement, as well as to gather young, proven talent from diverse fields, who share a common vision and who become committed to interacting on joint research. The initial staff group now has been assembled at the new LIBR facility, which opened in the summer of 2009.