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she's examining both the structure of these children's brains and activ- ity within them as indicated by cellular activity and blood flow. "We're visualizing the activity of cells and blood flow changes in the brain to see if the medication is hitting the right places," Pavuluri says. She's also collaborating with Jeff Bishop, PharmD, assistant professor of pharmacy practice, to analyze how genetic differences may result in children responding to drugs differently. Bishop is analyzing participants' DNA samples in the College of Pharmacy's pharmacoge- nomics laboratory to look for variations in genes that are believed to be involved in medication's mechanisms of action and the metabolic pathways the medications take. He's also looking for previously undis- covered genetic variations that might contribute to differing responses to medication. In all, Pavuluri is conducting 11 studies under the auspices of the BRAIN Center's Neuroscience Research Laboratory, which she heads. Meanwhile, Alessandra Passarotti, PhD, research assistant pro- fessor, is leading a complementary set of five studies as the head of the center's Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory. Passarotti's research focuses on brain activity related to such processes as response inhibition and reward processing. She uses imag- ing to visualize brain function in the areas responsible for these mental processes in children with bipolar disorder and ADHD, correlate that function with their symptoms, and compare it to the brain activity in healthy children. "After a lot of analysis, we can see which parts of the brain are working in these children and whether there are differences in their patterns of brain activation while they perform cognitive and affective tasks," she says. She's also trying to identify differences in the brain function of children with bipolar disorder and those with ADHD, which physicians often confuse with each other due to the similarity of their symptoms, such as irritability, inattention and impulsivity. "Our studies suggest that in ADHD the brain systems involved in attention and cognition are more compromised, whereas in pediat- ric bipolar disorder it is the emotion processing and regulation systems that are more compromised," Passarotti says. "The more we can dif- ferentiate between the two illnesses, the better we can intervene in ways that are specific to each of them." This focus on turning research discovery into improved clinical I care is characteristic of Illinois Medicine. After all, UIC has received a $20 million grant from the National Institutes of Health for its Center for Clinical and Translational Research, which aims to speed the pro- cess of translating scientific breakthroughs into treatments for patients. N THE BRAIN CENTER, research is both applied and conducted in the Pediatric Mood Disorders Clinic, which treats children up to age 18 for depression, bipolar disorder and mood disorder-re- lated psychosis. The clinic has a current caseload of about 1,000 patients and received approximately 20,000 patient visits in the last fiscal year. "By the time families come to see us, it seems like they've been through a war," says Julie Carbray, PhD, APRN, the clinic's administrative director. "It's a war with an illness that can destroy a family. Siblings are affected. Parents don't know what to do, because they have a child they love but who's difficult to love." Furthermore, many parents bring their child to the clinic already having seen multiple physicians without obtaining effec- "By the time families come to see us, it seems like they've been through a war. It's a war with an illness that can destroy a family." JULIE CARBRAY, PhD, APRN, Administrative Director, Pediatric Mood Disorders Clinic Mani Pavuluri, MD, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry at UIC, says about 20 percent of children need mental health services, about half of those for mood disorders and the other half for autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. tive treatment. "Clinicians may feel uncomfortable making a diagnosis of a pediatric mood disorder without more evidence, or they may feel they don't have enough familiarity with it," Carbray observes. In such situations, treatment at the clinic typically begins with a reassessment of the child's diagnosis and medication, which may lead to both being changed entirely. That was the case of Joanne Regan's son, whom Pavuluri has treated for bipolar disorder. Originally diagnosed with major depression at age 5, Regan's son, now 13, was hospitalized 13 times for his self-destructive behavior before Pavuluri began seeing him. "She instantly zoomed in on what his issues were, changed his medications, and within two months he was stable," Regan says. "She's changed our lives. She's given us hope." In addition to medication—which is guided by the algorithm Pavuluri, Carbray and other clinic staff members developed through their research—patients at the clinic also can receive individual or group psychotherapy. The options include an innovative program for bipolar children called RAINBOW therapy, which helps give these children the tools to manage their moods and impulses, cope with stress and main- tain self-esteem. The family-focused 12-week program, which includes both sepa- I L L INOI S MEDICINE | 21