SUBJECT:  Interim Director, Stein Institute for Research on Aging

I am pleased to announce that Dilip Jeste, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, and Estelle and Edgar Levi Chair in Aging, has agreed to serve as Interim Director of the Stein Institute for Research on Aging (SIRA) while we conduct a search for a permanent director. He succeeds Dr. Dennis Carson, who has been named Director of the Rebecca and John Moores UCSD Cancer Center. Both appointments are effective on November 10.

Dr. Jeste, a renowned specialist in geriatric psychiatry, has been widely honored for his leadership in psychiatric research, education and clinical care. A member of the UCSD faculty since 1986, he serves as chief of the UCSD Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, which includes the Senior Behavioral Health Program, offering inpatient and outopatient services for older patients with mental health needs. He is also a geriatric psychiatrist with the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System. He is principal investigator of the Center for Community-based Research in Older People with Psychosis, a partnership with the San Diego County Health and Human Services Agency's Adult and Older Adult Mental Health Services to develop effective new therapies for middle-aged and elderly people with schizophrenia and other chronic psychotic disorders. He also directs UCSD's NIMH Specialized Mental Health Intervention Research Center on Late-Life Psychosis.

Dr. Jeste earned his B.S. and M.B. from the University of Poona in Poona, India. He earned his D.P.M. from the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Bombay, and his M.D. from the University of Bombay. He completed his residency in psychiatry at the Cornell Medical Center and his neurology residency at George Washington University Medical Center. Prior to joining the UCSD faculty he held positions at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences at Walter Reed Army Medical Center; in the Neuropsychiatry Branch of the NIMH, Saint Elizabeth Hospital; and at the George Washington University Medical Center.

Dr. Jeste has published extensively in his field of specialty, and has served as president of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry. He is editor Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, and was lead author of the widely cited 1999 report, "Consensus Statement on the Upcoming Crisis in Geriatric Mental Health: Research Agenda for the Next Two Decades," published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

I look forward to working with Dr. Jeste in his new capacity and am confident that he will provide strong leadership for SIRA, which this year celebrates its 20th anniversary as a catalyst for research in diseases of aging. During this time, SIRA has brought together a critical mass of scientific talent, encouraged and funded age-related research, purchased needed scientific equipment, supported student education, enhanced patient care, and provided community education through a popular monthly newsletter and monthly lectures to share the latest treatment and research in diseases of aging.

                                                Edward W. Holmes
                                                Vice Chancellor, Health Sciences
                                                Dean, School of Medicine