Semel Timeline

>> 1949-61: The vision of an interdisciplinary mental health institute at UCLA becomes a reality.

1949

Board of Regents informally agrees to build mental health hospital at UCLA

1950-51

Horace W. Magoun and John D. “Jack” French open temporary research labs at VA Long Beach

1953

Dean Stafford L. Warren submits initial proposal for institute and hospital

1954

Regents adapt “Neuropsychiatric Institute” as official name of new facility; first state budget appropriation for planning

1956

Dean Warren, Magoun, and other faculty apply for Brain Research Institute construction grant to build research wing; state NPI funds used as required “matching funds”

1957

NPI established by California Senate Bill 86 “for the purpose of treating patients with organic and functional disorders of the nervous system, and to further the respective educational, training and research programs of the University and the Department of Mental Hygiene”; contracts signed by UCLA and DMH

BRI construction grant awarded for research wing; Interdisciplinary committee begins allocation of laboratory space

1958

Groundbreaking; UCLA President Clark Kerr approves BRI proposal

1959

George Tarjan begins ten-year study of natural history of mental retardation (at Pacific State Hospital in Pomona)

1961

First patients admitted to NPH in January; Opening Ceremonies of six-floor building follow in March. Ownership of Facility passes to UCLA

Norman Brill as Chair of Psychiatry becomes Director of NPI

_______________________

BRI Opening Ceremonies in October; John French becomes first BRI Director

>> 1962-69: The NPI and BRI expand rapidly and two divisions are added: the MRRC for research on developmental disability and the Reed Neurological Research Center.

1960s

Drug Abuse Clinic (Philip May and Ralph Worden), Gender Identity Clinic (Richard Green) and High-Risk Developmental Disability Clinic (Tarjan) established

1962

Marine Biology Laboratory opens

1953

Stafford Warren from 1960 portrait 1photo from SOM 50th anniversary

Warren and Brill propose Mental Retardation Research Program to Presidential Panel on Mental Retardation (Panel chaired by George Tarjan)

1964

NICHHD approves new Mental Retardation Research Center at UCLA; construction of five-floor addition begins with federal and state grants

_______________________

Brain Information Service begins operation

1965

George Tarjan becomes head of MRRC, continues work on epidemiology of developmental disability

_______________________

Sidney Cohen publishes Drugs of Hallucination

1966

Samuel Eiduson publishes study of 5-hydroxytryptamine in the developing chick brain

1967

Brill resigns as Director and Tarjan becomes Acting Director

_______________________

Construction of Reed Neurological Research Center begins, funded by NINDS and Dr. Clarence Reed

Exterior view of Reed Neurological Research

1968

Interdepartmental Training Program leading to PhD in Neuroscience launched

1969

MRRC dedicated with George Tarjan as Director

_______________________

Louis Jolyon “Jolly” West becomes Director of NPI

>> 1970-1976: A new Chair and a new era of reorganization with the transfer of the Institute and Hospital to UCLA.

1970

Reed Neurological Research Center (RNRC) opens under Director Augustus Rose

1971

Tenth Anniversary. NPI faculty have trained more than 4,000 psychiatrists, neurologists and other professionals, published more than 1600 research papers. Annual inpatient census is 48,000 with more than 43,000 outpatient visits.

_______________________

UCLA signs affiliation agreements with Brentwood and Sepulveda VA Medical Centers

1971

Norman Brill publishes research on pharmacological and psychological factors of marijuana addiction

1972

All research programs at Camarillo, Pacific and Patton State Hospitals transferred to UCLA

1973

January: NPI becomes “integral part” of UCLA and is formally transferred to university control; RNRC and Department of Neurology become independent

_______________________

June: Regents formally approve transfer

1973

Joaquin Fuster demonstrates the neural substrate of short-term memory in the prefrontal cortex

1973

Space Biology Lab renamed Laboratory of Environmental Neurobiology

1976

_______________________

John French retires as BRI Director and is succeeded by Carmine Clemente

1974

Child Abuse Prevention Clinic established

_______________________

Richard Walter succeeds Rose as head of Reed Center

_______________________

Founding of new Volunteer Support Group – the Bridge

1975-76

Ransom Arthur serves as Interim Director while West is on sabbatical

_______________________

Adult Psychiatry renamed General Psychiatry and reorganized into two subdisciplines: Adult, headed by Marvin Karno, and Biobehavioral Sciences, headed by Michael McGuire.

1975

Adult Developmental Disabilities Clinic established

_______________________

Joseph Campbell Chair in Child Psychiatry (1^st endowed Chair)

1976

New Space Committee and “Boundary Committee” formed to negotiate space with BRI

_______________________

Nathaniel Buchwald becomes head of MRRC

_______________________

Philip May demonstrates that drug treatment, not psychotherapy, is the treatment of choice in schizophrenia

>> 1977-1982: NPI gains recognition as the BEST in the WEST; five chairs are endowed and new services are created to meet community needs.

1977

Frank Ervin establishes free-ranging colony of macaques for study of social behavior

_______________________

NPH becomes separate budgetary entity and Joylon West and Ransom Arthur become joint directors of NPI and NPH

_______________________

Affective Disorders Clinic established

_______________________

Inpatient Geriatric Unit and Psychosocial Clinic for People over 65 begin operations

_______________________

Thomas and Katherine Pike Chair in Alcohol Studies and Augustus Rose Chair in Neurology created

1978-1986

Robert Liberman opens new NIMH Research Unit at Camarillo and evaluates the effectiveness of social skills training v. holistic therapy

1978

Murray Jarvik demonstrates neural and biochemical basis of nicotine addiction

_______________________

MRRC begins phase I of a long-term study of the school progress of 600 mentally retarded children

_______________________

Laboratory of Human Ethology established under Michael McGuire

_______________________

Della Martin Chair in Psychiatry, Judson Braun Chair in Biological Psychiatry and Eleanor Leslie Chair in Neuroscience Established

_______________________

Jerry Lewis Neuromuscular Research Center established; Laboratory of Neuromotor Control and Neuromuscular Research Lab merge their research programs

_______________________

Alcohol Research Center created with West as first Director

1979

Ransom Arthur resigns and is succeeded as NPH Director by Milton Greenblatt

_______________________

Nathaniel Buchwald publishes his research on the basal ganglia and somatosensory response in animals

_______________________

Laboratory of Aging Research created

1980-94

Edward Ritvo conducts epidemiological studies of autism

1980

Neuroscience History Resource Project begins work under Louise Marshall

1981

Aftercare Clinic begins longitudinal study on predictors of early phase schizophrenia

1982

Jaime Villablanca’s experiments with removal of one hemisphere from animal brains suggest a new treatment for pediatric epilepsy

_______________________

Adult Outpatient Eating Disorders Program established

>> 1983-1990: At the 25-year mark and as the Jolly West era ends, NPI participates in multicenter research projects, but NPH faces funding shortfalls for mental health teaching and community mental health services. Epidemiological studies reveal the extent of untreated illness in Los Angeles and new clinics and outreach services are instituted.

1983

Michael McGuire shows that serotonin levels are related to dominance behaviors in vervet monkey colonies.

_______________________

Chancellor Charles Young establishes NPI Advisory Board

_______________________

Milton Greenblatt recommends return to former organizational structure, with NPH Director reporting to head of NPI

_______________________

NPH institutes flexible staffing and hires full-time Development Officer and Marketing Officer.

1984

Donald Rockwell becomes Director of NPH and Neuropsychiatric Clinics

_______________________

Richard Walter retires and Joseph Baloh becomes Acting Director of RNRC

_______________________

An American Contribution to Neuroscience: The Brain Research Institute at UCLA, authored by John French, Donald Lindsley and Horace Magoun is published

1984-1985

MRRC creates a molecular neurogenetics lab under Anthony Campagnoni

1985

All Neurology Clinics moved to NPH

_______________________

NPI/NPH celebrate 25th anniversary with a rededication ceremony in December 1985 and a scientific conference and dinner dance in March 1986

_______________________

Charles Markham organizes a workshop on adrenal gland/brain transplantation for Parkinson’s patients

_______________________

Anxiety Disorders Clinic created under David Fogelson

_______________________

Gary Small opens Geriatric Psychiatry Clinic and launches studies on the genetic basis of Alzheimer’s Disease

1986

Autism Program established under Edward Ritvo

_______________________

New Sleep Studies Research Program monitors sleep and circadian rhythm shifts

Source: https://www.semel.ucla.edu/initiatives/center-for-sleep-research/

1987

Neuroimaging Lab under Arthur Toga, Brain Metabolism Lab under Emily Santori and Post-Polio Clinic under Sue Perlman established

_______________________

Alzheimer’s and Memory Disorders Service established under Lissy Jarvik

_______________________

Dr. Robert C. Collins appointed Chair of Neurology; he establishes 24-hour stroke hotline begins programs in telemetry, and pediatric epileptic surgery.

_______________________

Carmine Clemente resigns as BRI Director; Arnold Scheibel becomes Acting Director

_______________________

Barbara Fish publishes report on infant predictors of schizophrenia, based on 30-year longitudinal study

1987-1988

NPI participates in NIMH Epidemologic Catchment Area Study

1989

Arnold Scheibel becomes BRI Director

_______________________

Jolyon West retires; Daniel X. Freedman becomes Acting Director of NPI

_______________________

First Horace W. Magoun Lecture

1990

First John D. French Lecture

>> 1990-2025: Renamed the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, and expanded with landmark new facilities, UCLA’s neuropsychiatric enterprise maintain national leadership in research and healthcare.

1991

Gary Tischler appointed Director of NPI

1992

MRRC renamed the Tarjan Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities

_______________________

Charles Woody describes the neural basis of a simple conditioned reflex, the eye-blink

_______________________

Chris Evans clones a delta-opioid receptor

_______________________

Charles Grob granted initial IRB approval for research on psychedelics

1993

Integrated Brain Mapping Center proposed by John Mazziotta

1994

Jean DeVellis appointed Director of the Tarjan Center

_______________________

Gary Tischler resigns and Fawzy Fawzy becomes Interim Director

1995

Arnold Scheibel resigns as BRI Director; Allan Tobin becomes Director and is named to Eleanor Leslie Chair

1997

_______________________

Peter Whybrow, M.D., D.P.M., M.B., F.R.C.P.

Peter Whybrow appointed Director of NPI; Fawzy becomes Director of NPH

Allan Tobin, Robert Collins, Peter Whybrow 1997

1998

Gonda (Goldschmied) Neuroscience and Genetic Research Building completed

_______________________

Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center opens

1999

Christopher Evans named Shirley and Stefan Hatos Professor and head of new Hatos Center for Neuropharmacology

2003

Marian Sigman and Daniel Geschwind expand Autism Program and establish the Center for Autism Research and Treatment (CART)

_______________________

Allan Tobin retires and Christopher Evans becomes Director of the BRI

2004

NPI renamed the Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior

_______________________

NPH renamed the Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital

Stewart and Lynda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital Entrance (2008)

2007

Kenneth Wells and community health activist Loretta Jones begin publishing their work in community-partnered participatory research on depression care

_______________________

Charles Grob publishes pilot study of psilocybin treatment of anxiety in cancer patients

2008

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center opens, incorporating 74-bed Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital

_______________________

Dr. Daniel Geschwind and colleagues identify the gene CNTNAP2 as a risk factor for ASD and related neurodevelopmental disorders.

2015

Joel Braslow and Philippe Bourgois develop Center for Social Medicine and the Humanities; first MSTP Social Science Track students admitted through Center

2017

Chris Evans resigns and Felix Schweizer becomes the BRI Director

2019

Eleanor Leslie Chair in Pioneering Brain Research established

_______________________

Erik Cheung becomes Chief Medical Officer of the Resnick NPH

2020

Peter Whybrow retires; Alexander S. Young becomes Interim Director

2022

Helena Hansen appointed Interim Director of NPI

2025

Semel Timeline

>> 1949-61: The vision of an interdisciplinary mental health institute at UCLA becomes a reality.

Board of Regents informally agrees to build mental health hospital at UCLA

Horace W. Magoun and John D. “Jack” French open temporary research labs at VA Long Beach

Dean Stafford L. Warren submits initial proposal for institute and hospital

Regents adapt “Neuropsychiatric Institute” as official name of new facility; first state budget appropriation for planning

Dean Warren, Magoun, and other faculty apply for Brain Research Institute construction grant to build research wing; state NPI funds used as required “matching funds”

BRI construction grant awarded for research wing; Interdisciplinary committee begins allocation of laboratory space

Groundbreaking; UCLA President Clark Kerr approves BRI proposal

George Tarjan begins ten-year study of natural history of mental retardation (at Pacific State Hospital in Pomona)

First patients admitted to NPH in January; Opening Ceremonies of six-floor building follow in March. Ownership of Facility passes to UCLA

Norman Brill as Chair of Psychiatry becomes Director of NPI

BRI Opening Ceremonies in October; John French becomes first BRI Director

>> 1962-69: The NPI and BRI expand rapidly and two divisions are added: the MRRC for research on developmental disability and the Reed Neurological Research Center.

Drug Abuse Clinic (Philip May and Ralph Worden), Gender Identity Clinic (Richard Green) and High-Risk Developmental Disability Clinic (Tarjan) established

Marine Biology Laboratory opens

Warren and Brill propose Mental Retardation Research Program to Presidential Panel on Mental Retardation (Panel chaired by George Tarjan)

NICHHD approves new Mental Retardation Research Center at UCLA; construction of five-floor addition begins with federal and state grants

Brain Information Service begins operation

George Tarjan becomes head of MRRC, continues work on epidemiology of developmental disability

Sidney Cohen publishes Drugs of Hallucination

Samuel Eiduson publishes study of 5-hydroxytryptamine in the developing chick brain

Brill resigns as Director and Tarjan becomes Acting Director

Construction of Reed Neurological Research Center begins, funded by NINDS and Dr. Clarence Reed

Interdepartmental Training Program leading to PhD in Neuroscience launched

MRRC dedicated with George Tarjan as Director

Louis Jolyon “Jolly” West becomes Director of NPI

>> 1970-1976: A new Chair and a new era of reorganization with the transfer of the Institute and Hospital to UCLA.

Reed Neurological Research Center (RNRC) opens under Director Augustus Rose

Tenth Anniversary. NPI faculty have trained more than 4,000 psychiatrists, neurologists and other professionals, published more than 1600 research papers. Annual inpatient census is 48,000 with more than 43,000 outpatient visits.

UCLA signs affiliation agreements with Brentwood and Sepulveda VA Medical Centers

Norman Brill publishes research on pharmacological and psychological factors of marijuana addiction

All research programs at Camarillo, Pacific and Patton State Hospitals transferred to UCLA

January: NPI becomes “integral part” of UCLA and is formally transferred to university control; RNRC and Department of Neurology become independent

June: Regents formally approve transfer

Joaquin Fuster demonstrates the neural substrate of short-term memory in the prefrontal cortex

Space Biology Lab renamed Laboratory of Environmental Neurobiology

John French retires as BRI Director and is succeeded by Carmine Clemente

Child Abuse Prevention Clinic established

Richard Walter succeeds Rose as head of Reed Center

Founding of new Volunteer Support Group – the Bridge

Ransom Arthur serves as Interim Director while West is on sabbatical

Adult Psychiatry renamed General Psychiatry and reorganized into two subdisciplines: Adult, headed by Marvin Karno, and Biobehavioral Sciences, headed by Michael McGuire.

Adult Developmental Disabilities Clinic established

Joseph Campbell Chair in Child Psychiatry (1st endowed Chair)

New Space Committee and “Boundary Committee” formed to negotiate space with BRI

Nathaniel Buchwald becomes head of MRRC

Philip May demonstrates that drug treatment, not psychotherapy, is the treatment of choice in schizophrenia

>> 1977-1982: NPI gains recognition as the BEST in the WEST; five chairs are endowed and new services are created to meet community needs.

Frank Ervin establishes free-ranging colony of macaques for study of social behavior

NPH becomes separate budgetary entity and Joylon West and Ransom Arthur become joint directors of NPI and NPH

Affective Disorders Clinic established

Inpatient Geriatric Unit and Psychosocial Clinic for People over 65 begin operations

Thomas and Katherine Pike Chair in Alcohol Studies and Augustus Rose Chair in Neurology created

Robert Liberman opens new NIMH Research Unit at Camarillo and evaluates the effectiveness of social skills training v. holistic therapy

Murray Jarvik demonstrates neural and biochemical basis of nicotine addiction

MRRC begins phase I of a long-term study of the school progress of 600 mentally retarded children

Laboratory of Human Ethology established under Michael McGuire

Della Martin Chair in Psychiatry, Judson Braun Chair in Biological Psychiatry and Eleanor Leslie Chair in Neuroscience Established

Jerry Lewis Neuromuscular Research Center established; Laboratory of Neuromotor Control and Neuromuscular Research Lab merge their research programs

Alcohol Research Center created with West as first Director

Ransom Arthur resigns and is succeeded as NPH Director by Milton Greenblatt

Nathaniel Buchwald publishes his research on the basal ganglia and somatosensory response in animals

Laboratory of Aging Research created

Edward Ritvo conducts epidemiological studies of autism

Neuroscience History Resource Project begins work under Louise Marshall

Aftercare Clinic begins longitudinal study on predictors of early phase schizophrenia

Jaime Villablanca’s experiments with removal of one hemisphere from animal brains suggest a new treatment for pediatric epilepsy

Adult Outpatient Eating Disorders Program established

Michael McGuire shows that serotonin levels are related to dominance behaviors in vervet monkey colonies.

Chancellor Charles Young establishes NPI Advisory Board

Milton Greenblatt recommends return to former organizational structure, with NPH Director reporting to head of NPI

NPH institutes flexible staffing and hires full-time Development Officer and Marketing Officer.

Donald Rockwell becomes Director of NPH and Neuropsychiatric Clinics

Richard Walter retires and Joseph Baloh becomes Acting Director of RNRC

An American Contribution to Neuroscience: The Brain Research Institute at UCLA, authored by John French, Donald Lindsley and Horace Magoun is published

MRRC creates a molecular neurogenetics lab under Anthony Campagnoni

All Neurology Clinics moved to NPH

NPI/NPH celebrate 25th anniversary with a rededication ceremony in December 1985 and a scientific conference and dinner dance in March 1986

Charles Markham organizes a workshop on adrenal gland/brain transplantation for Parkinson’s patients

Joseph Campbell Chair in Child Psychiatry (1^st endowed Chair)

Resnick NPH is ranked 5^th in the US for psychiatric care