The Story of Schizophrenia

5 snips

Apr 7, 2020

In this enlightening discussion, Robert Kolker, author of "Hidden Valley Road", and Stefan McDonough, Pfizer's Executive Director of Genetics, delve into the complexities of schizophrenia through the poignant lens of the Galvin family. They unravel the historical shifts in understanding and treatment of the illness, from lobotomies to the introduction of modern medications. The guests also explore groundbreaking genetic research and potential advancements in treatment, offering hope amidst the challenges in understanding this mysterious mental health issue.

Ask episode

AI Snips

Chapters

Books

Transcript

Episode notes

INSIGHT

Drug Development Challenges

Post-Thorazine, drug development focused on animal behaviors related to schizophrenia and minimizing side effects.
However, animal models lack the complex cortical structures where higher processes affected by schizophrenia reside.

INSIGHT

The Problem of Models

Finding effective pre-clinical models for schizophrenia is difficult due to its uniquely human manifestation.
Unlike tumors, which can be grown in animals, schizophrenia lacks comparable models for drug testing.

INSIGHT

New Targets and Drug Delivery

Excitement surrounded metabotropic glutamate receptors, dopamine receptor manipulations, and serotonin involvement in schizophrenia.
Drug delivery and patient adherence remain challenges; longer-lasting medications could be a significant advance.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

Get the app

Descriptions of the mental illness we today call schizophrenia are as old as humankind itself. And more than likely, we are are all familiar with this disease in some way, as it touches 1% of us—millions of lives—and of course, their families. In this episode, we dive into the remarkable story of one such American family, the Galvins: Mimi, Don, and their 12 children, 6 of whom were afflicted with schizophrenia.

In his new book, Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family, Robert Kolker follows the family from the 1950s to today, through, he writes, "the eras of institutionalization and shock therapy, the debates between psycho-therapy versus medication, the needle-in-a-haystack search for genetic markers for the disease, and the profound disagreements about the cause and origin of the illness itself." Because of that, this is really more than just a portrait of one family; it’s a portrait of how we have struggled over the last decades to understand this mysterious and devastating mental illness: the biology of it, the drivers, the behaviors and pathology, the genomics, and of course the search for treatments that might help, from lobotomies to ECT to thorazine.

Also joining Robert Kolker and a16z's Hanne Tidnam in this conversation is Stefan McDonough, Executive Director of Genetics at Pfizer World R&D, one of the genetic researchers who worked closely with the Galvins. The conversation follows the key moments where our understanding of this disease began to shift, especially with new technologies and the advent of the Human Genome Project—and finally where we are today, and where our next big break might come from.

Stay Updated:

Find a16z on YouTube: YouTube

Find a16z on X

Find a16z on LinkedIn

Listen to the a16z Show on Spotify

Listen to the a16z Show on Apple Podcasts

Follow our host: https://twitter.com/eriktorenberg

Please note that the content here is for informational purposes only; should NOT be taken as legal, business, tax, or investment advice or be used to evaluate any investment or security; and is not directed at any investors or potential investors in any a16z fund. a16z and its affiliates may maintain investments in the companies discussed. For more details please see a16z.com/disclosures.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.