CONTACT:James G. Minnick
Zeneca Pharmaceuticals
302/886-5135
[email protected]
ZENECA HONORS WINNER OF PSYCHIATRY IN PRACTICE AWARD One of Three Sponsorships Demonstrating the Commitment of Zeneca to Psychiatry
Washington - May 18, 1999 - Zeneca Pharmaceuticals today honors the American winner of its inaugural Psychiatry in Practice Award. This award is one of several activities the company is sponsoring at the American Psychiatric Association's (APA) Annual Meeting recognizing the practice of psychiatry.
In addition to the Psychiatry in Practice Award, Zeneca again is sponsoring the APA/Zeneca Minority Fellowship and activities surrounding the APA's George Tarjan Award honoring international medical graduates. Zeneca is the maker of SEROQUEL (tm) (quetiapine fumarate),* an atypical antipsychotic indicated for the management of the manifestations of psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia.
"In developing effective medications for mental illness, Zeneca knows that psychiatrists and mental health professionals are central to successful treatment," said Gerard Kennealey, M.D., Vice President, Medical Affairs, Zeneca Pharmaceuticals. "By sponsoring the Psychiatry in Practice Award, the APA/Zeneca Minority Fellowship and activities surrounding the George Tarjan Award, we are offering our support to the men and women who help people in their fight against mental illness."
"Zeneca is a longtime friend of the APA in our effort to recognize and support the work of psychiatrists," said Nada Stotland, M.D., chair of the APA's Joint Commission on Public Affairs. "The company's support for international medical graduates and the George Tarjan Award is important to psychiatrists practicing today; its sponsorship of the Minority Fellowship Program is making a real difference to the psychiatrists of tomorrow."
Zeneca Psychiatry in Practice Award Program:
As part of activities at the APA meeting, Zeneca honored Hubert H. Fernandez, M.D., the first American winner of the Zeneca Psychiatry in Practice Award, at a reception today. Earlier this year, Zeneca invited psychiatrists and other health care practioners from around the world to submit their most challenging, rewarding or otherwise noteworthy patient case studies.
The case histories were assessed by an international panel of independent researchers, and judged on the basis of clinical relevance and scientific merit. The panel selected case studies from Dr. Fernandez, clinical instructor in neurology at Brown University School of Medicine, and Ilya Reznik, M.D., of the University of Tel-Aviv in Israel. Both have been submitted to the 11th World Congress in Psychiatry in Hamburg for presentation, where Zeneca will sponsor the doctors' attendance. Dr. Fernandez, of the Memorial Hospital of Rhode Island, submitted his award-winning case history entitled, "Quetiapine in the treatment of dopaminergic psychosis in a patient with Parkinson's Disease."
APA/Zeneca Minority Fellowship Zeneca also announced its continued sponsorship of the APA/Zeneca Minority Fellowships for educational enrichment of psychiatrists-in-training and stimulation of physicians' interest in providing mental health services to minority and underserved populations. Open to residents in at least their second year of psychiatry training, the program is designed to provide recipients with the means to engage in or expand activities that address culturally relevant aspects of mental health in their residency training. In the two years since Zeneca first provided the educational grant, 17 psychiatrists-in-training have been named APA/Zeneca Fellows. The two-year fellowships enable residents to work with an APA component that is of particular interest to the trainee and pertinent to his or her career goals.
George Tarjan Award Zeneca again renewed its commitment to supporting international medical graduates (IMGs) with continued sponsorship of the APA's reception honoring the George Tarjan Awardee. The award recognizes IMGs who have made outstanding contributions to the practice of psychiatry. This year's winner is Sylvia Olarte, M.D., Chairperson of the Committee of Hispanic-Americans. Dr. Olarte originally is from Argentina and currently practices in New York City. The APA estimates one-quarter of its members are IMGs.
Zeneca Pharmaceuticals is a business unit of Zeneca Inc., a $4.0 billion bioscience business with approximately 8,300 employees in the US. Zeneca Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the U.K.-based AstraZeneca PLC (NYSE:AZN), a major $17.2 billion international bioscience business engaged in the research, development, manufacture, and marketing of ethical (prescription) pharmaceuticals, agricultural and specialty chemical products, and the supply of health care services.
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*SEROQUEL is indicated for the management of the manifestations of psychotic disorders, including schizophrenia. The most common adverse events exhibited across placebo-controlled trials included headache (19%), somnolence (18%), and dizziness (10%), and the majority of events rated as mild or moderate. For more information, please access the World Wide Web at www.usa.zeneca.com/pharm/pibs/pib_seroquel.htm or call Jim Minnick at 302-886-5135. For more information about SEROQUEL, visit the web site at www.seroquel.com.
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