Harvard Expert to Lecture on Societal Costs of Mental Disorders

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Ronald C. Kessler, Ph.D., Harvard University professor and a major figure in the field of mental health in the U.S. and abroad, will present the J. Warren Perry Lecture on Oct. 13 at 3:30 p.m. in Lippes Concert Hall in Slee Hall on UB's North (Amherst) Campus.

His lecture, "The Societal Costs of Mental Disorders:  What We Know and What We're (Not) Doing About It," will be free and open to the public.

The Perry lecture is sponsored annually by the UB School of Public Health and Health Professions. It is made possible by a grant from J. Warren Perry, founding dean of the former UB School of Health Related Professions.

Kessler, professor of health care policy at Harvard University Medical School, is principal investigator for the National Comorbidity Survey, the first nationally representative survey of the prevalence and correlates of psychiatric disorders in the U.S. 

He also carried out the NCS adolescent (NCS-A) survey, the first nationally representative survey of adolescent mental health ever done in the U.S., and was director of the World Health Organization's World Mental Health (WMH) surveys. The WHO project is a series of nationally representative epidemiological surveys conducted in 28 countries, with a combined sample size of more than 200,000 respondents.

In addition to his epidemiological studies, Kessler is involved in the design and implementation of several experimental workplace interventions in the U.S. and Latin America aimed at determining the cost effectiveness, from the employer perspective, of various disease management programs. 

He also is conducting field surveys in Brazil, Iraq and Northern Ireland, and is preparing for surveys in Portugal and Australia. In addition, Kessler directs the Hurricane Katrina Community Advisory Group, a panel studying psychological adjustment among people who were residents of the areas affected by Hurricane Katrina at the time of the storm.

Kessler did his undergraduate work in sociology at Temple University and holds master's and doctoral degrees in sociology from New York University.  He has received several honors, including the Research Scientist and MERIT awards from the National Institute of Mental Health.  

He serves on the editorial board of several journals, including the Journal of Health & Productivity and Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences.  Kessler has authored or coauthored more than 350 articles in professional journals, as well as several books and book chapters.  He is a member of many professional organizations, including the Sociological Research Association and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.