Centerstone Research Institute Achieves 100th Study Milestone

Nashville, Tenn. —Centerstone Research Institute (CRI) announced today that it has launched its landmark 100th research study. Founded in 2001, CRI is dedicated to improving lives by helping providers bring the latest findings in mental healthcare research to day-to-day clinical practice.

“It is a well-known statistic that it takes approximately 17 years for the results of medical research to actually be applied by practitioners. However, CRI’s affiliations with major academic institutions and access to professionals and patients through Centerstone, the nation’s largest provider of community-based behavioral healthcare, place it in a unique position to positively change the delivery of mental health treatment,” said Dennis Morrison, Ph.D, CEO of CRI. “We are thrilled to announce the start of our 100th research study, which advances our mission to ensure that patients receive the latest, most effective mental health treatments available.”

The 100th study, “Web-based Supervision to Improve Case Managers’ Application of Motivational Interviewing,” will be led by principal investigator Dr. R. Lyle Cooper of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville’s School of Social Work. Motivational interviewing is an evidence-based, client-centered counseling style that seeks to change behaviors by helping clients understand and resolve internal ambivalence. It has proven to be very effective in helping patients recover from substance abuse. In the study, Dr. Cooper and his team of researchers will employ web-based supervision to teach case managers how to apply useful motivational interviewing techniques to their daily practice.

“Overall, motivational interviewing is a quiet, supportive counseling technique, yet it has shown to be remarkably effective for promoting clients’ recovery. More counselors need to have it in their therapeutic arsenal,” Dr. Cooper said. “We are excited to work with CRI and utilize its resources and expertise to study the web’s utility and efficacy in training case managers in this technique, cost-effectively and regardless of geographic constraints.”

Since establishing its ongoing collaboration with Vanderbilt University in 2001, CRI has partnered with more than 20 leading behavioral health researchers at some of the country’s foremost academic research institutions, including Duke and Columbia Universities. It also partners with pharmaceutical companies and behavioral health providers. Major national studies to which CRI has contributed include the STAR*D trial (Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression), the largest study ever conducted on the treatment of major depressive disorder; and the CATIE trial (Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness), which evaluated the clinical effectiveness of atypical antipsychotics in the treatment of schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease.

In addition to leading research efforts, CRI is developing and implementing the next generation of electronic medical records (EMRs). Among its technology efforts, CRI maintains Centerstone’s Knowledge Network, a technology-based, partner-driven collaboration that translates research to practice. It also is working with Dr. Madhukar Trivedi, a leader of the STAR*D study and a professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas – Southwestern, to implement a computerized treatment system to help clinicians better diagnose and treat depression.

CRI has its headquarters in Bloomington, Indiana and employs over 70 researchers and professionals in Indiana and Tennessee. It has secured more than $40 million in federal and private funding to date and maintains its own Institutional Review Board. In 2008, CRI received the Excellence in Innovation Award from the National Council for Community Behavioral Healthcare.

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