Robert L. Spitzer, M.D.
Dr. Spitzer is Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University and Chief of the Biometrics
Research Department at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He had his psychiatry
residency training at the Institute and has worked there since 1961. He has achieved
national and international recognition as an authority in psychiatric assessment
and the classification of mental disorders. He is the author of more than 250 articles
on psychiatric assessment and diagnosis.
In 1974, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) appointed Dr. Spitzer to chair
its Task Force on Nomenclature and Statistics, and in this capacity he assumed the
leadership role in the development of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders, Third Edition (DSM-III), published in 1980, which became the
authoritative classification of mental disorders for the mental health professions,
not only in the United States, but internationally.
In 1983, Dr. Spitzer was appointed to chair the APA's Work Group to Revise DSM-III
and coordinated that effort, which resulted in the publication of the Diagnostic
and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Third Edition, Revised (DSM-III-R),
in the spring of 1987. He was active in the development of the Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), as a Special Advisor
to the APA's Task Force on DSM-IV.
In 1994, Dr. Spitzer received the APA's award for psychiatric research for his contributions
to psychiatric assessment and diagnosis. In 2000, he was the Thomas William Salmon
Medal recipient from the New York Academy of Medicine. He has pioneered the development
of several widely used diagnostic assessment procedures, including the Research
Diagnostic Criteria (RDC), the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia
(SADS), the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID), and the PRIME-MD Patient
Health Questionnaire (PHQ).
Miriam Gibbon, M.S.W.
Ms. Gibbon is a Research Scientist in the Biometrics Department of the New York
State Psychiatric Institute and is on the faculty of the Columbia University College
of Physicians and Surgeons, Department of Psychiatry. She has been involved in the
development of psychiatric evaluation and diagnostic instruments for 25 years and
has served as a consultant to many research groups in the United States and internationally.
In the 1970s, Ms. Gibbon began working with the Biometrics group to develop the
Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (SADS). She is a coauthor of
the Global Assessment Scale (GAS), which was part of the SADS, and of the Global
Assessment of Functioning (GAF), a revision of the GAS that became Axis V of DSM-III-R.
She is a coauthor of the SCID and of the DSM Casebooks, and, with Dr. Michael
First, produced the SCID 101 Videotape Training Program.
Ms. Gibbon has trained thousands of researchers and clinicians in the use of diagnostic
and evaluation instruments, beginning with the SADS and continuing with the GAS,
the Hamilton Depression and Anxiety Scales, and the SCID.
Andrew E. Skodol, M.D.
Dr. Skodol is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at the Columbia University College
of Physicians and Surgeons. He is also the Director of the Department of Personality
Studies at New York State Psychiatric Institute, in New York, New York.
Janet B.W. Williams, D.S.W.
Dr. Williams is Professor of Clinical Psychiatric Social Work in the Departments
of Psychiatry and Neurology at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
and Deputy Chief of the Biometrics Research Department at the New York State Psychiatric
Institute. Her career has focused on the development of psychiatric classifications
and instruments to measure psychopathology, and she is well known for her interview
guides for the Hamilton Rating Scales. She was heavily involved in the development
of DSM-III, DSM-III-R, and DSM-IV and was made an Honorary Fellow of the APA for
her contributions. She collaborated on the development and testing of the PRIME-MD,
an interview guide designed to help primary care physicians make mental disorder
diagnoses, and its self-report version, the PHQ. Dr. Williams is the author of many
rating instruments and interview guides and more than 230 scholarly publications.
She serves on the editorial boards of several psychiatric journals and is an active
consultant to clinical trials on depression and anxiety.
Dr. Williams holds a B.S. in biology from Tufts University, an M.S. in marine biology
from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, and an M.S. and D.S.W. in social
welfare from the Columbia University School of Social Work. In 1994, Dr. Williams
founded the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR, now with more than 1,300
members) and served as its President for 2 years. In 1999, she was inducted into
the Columbia University School of Social Work Alumni Association Hall of Fame, and
in 2000 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from SSWR.
Michael B. First, M.D.
Dr. First is a Research Psychiatrist in the Biometrics Department at the New York
State Psychiatric Institute, is an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychiatry at
the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and maintains a schema-focused
cognitive therapy and psychopharmacology practice in Manhattan. He is a nationally
and internationally recognized expert on psychiatric diagnosis and assessment.
Dr. First is the editor and cochair of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of
Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR); the Editor
of Text and Criteria for DSM-IV; the editor of the DSM-IV Primary Care Version;
editor of the APA's Handbook of Psychiatric Measures; and Medical Editor
of the Quick Reference Guides to the APA's Practice Guidelines for the Treatment
of Psychiatric Disorders. He has coauthored and coedited a number of books, including
A Research Agenda for DSM-V; Advancing DSM: Dilemmas in Psychiatric Diagnosis;
Am I OK? The Layman's Guide to the Psychiatrist's Bible; DSM-IV-TR Guidebook;
DSM-IV-TR Handbook of Differential Diagnosis; the SCID; and DSM-IV-TR Casebook,
and various software packages for psychiatric diagnosis. He has trained thousands
of clinicians and researchers in diagnostic assessment and differential diagnosis.