Our Story

Drs. Raquel and Ruben Gur established the Neurodevelopment & Psychosis Section in the Department of Psychiatry of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in the early ‘80s, committed to advance the understanding of schizophrenia as a brain disorder. At the time, there was little research being conducted on schizophrenia in the Philadelphia area. Supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), they established a mental health clinical research center. As the center began attracting additional investigators, it transitioned toward translational research that integrated clinical and basic neuroscience methods across many Penn departments and schools. Since then, Neuropsychiatry  has evolved into two larger-scale programs: The Schizophrenia Research Center and the Brain Behavior Laboratory.