Cognitive Deficits in Schizophrenia

Emma Palmer, PharmD, BCPS, BCPP, Assistant Professor, Clinical and Administrative Sciences
Sullivan University College of Pharmacy

The exciting programming offered at CPNP 2018 includes new and thought-provoking discussions of topics that interest you! One hot topic offered in this year’s offerings is Cognitive Deficits in Schizophrenia.

Decline in cognitive functioning is a common symptom experienced by patients with schizophrenia. These deficits can include problems with attention, processing speed, and working memory, and can lead to significant impairment in social and occupational functioning for the patients who suffer from the illness. This keynote address for CPNP 2018 aims to address these unmet needs.

Participants should expect to learn valuable information regarding cognition-focused needs and interventions for this population. This gap in pharmacy education will be addressed by covering topics including cutting edge strategies that relate to both behavioral and pharmacological interventions targeted at improving cognition. In addition to currently available strategies, participants will learn about promising pipeline agents that target this treatment challenge.

Specific objectives of the keynote include;

• Define the unmet needs in the treatment of schizophrenia related to cognitive function.
• Discuss the methods for assessing cognition in clinical trials and clinical practice
• Describe the treatments currently employed to treat the cognitive deficits of schizophrenia
• Discuss cutting-edge strategies that are being studied in the area of behavioral interventions to improve cognitive function among patients with schizophrenia.
• Review pharmacological strategies in the treatment of cognitive deficits and agents in the pipeline with promising data.

Richard S.E. Keefe, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina, is presenting this Keynote Address at CPNP 2018 in Indianapolis on Tuesday, April 24^th.

Dr. Keefe received his BA from Princeton University and completed his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from New York University in 1990. He is well known for his devotion to research regarding cognitive dysfunction in patients with schizophrenia and related disorders, and as a leader for a number of National Institute of Mental Health sponsored studies on cognitive methods. He was the 2012‐2014 President of the International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology. Additionally, Dr. Keefe is Associate Editor of Psychological Medicine and serves on multiple editorial boards including Schizophrenia Research, Schizophrenia Bulletin, Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, and Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, and on the Scientific Board of the Brain and Behavioral Research Foundation. His work has been widely published, with authorship of more than 200 scientific papers and two books.