13 Leaders in Mental Health Celebrate the Contributions of Dr. Herbert Pardes

William E. Bunney, M.D.
University of California Irvine School of Medicine
BBRF Scientific Council
2001 BBRF Falcone Prize
1997 BBRF Distinguished Investigator

Herb Pardes was a unique and outstanding individual who made remarkable contributions to the field of mental health. I had multiple interactions with him over many years. During my 19 years in the Intramural Program at the NIMH, Herb appointed me Acting Director of the entire Basic and Clinical Intramural Program.

Another important area of interaction with Herb involved BBRF, where he asked me to serve on the Committee that selected a scientist to receive the Colvin Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Mood Disorders Research. He also asked me to chair the Committee that selected the international winner of the Lieber Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Schizophrenia Research.

My ongoing interactions with Herb over the years were always positive and I greatly appreciated his support. Herb's dedication and contributions were absolutely critical to the success of the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation. He was nationally and internationally recognized for his leadership in many aspects of mental health. He will be greatly missed.

William T. Carpenter, M.D.
University of Maryland School of Medicine
BBRF Scientific Council
2019 BBRF Pardes Humanitarian Prize
2000 BBRF Lieber Prize
2008, 2001, 1996 BBRF Distinguished Investigator

We have now lost the physical presence of this wonderful man. But his effect on so many of us changed our ability to advance knowledge and understanding regarding mental illness. Herb Pardes has brought together persons with mental illness, persons eager to find solutions to treat or prevent illness, persons committed to advancing knowledge, to enable prevention or cure, and persons willing to invest in supporting these objectives.

Herb has led the BBRF from a feeble start to incredible success as a research provider built with personal donations that are used to advance knowledge from scientists across the world. Those of us who have the privilege of working closely with him know the incredible gift he has made to advancing science in support of curing and preventing mental illness. While we have now lost this wonderful person, we live better lives with what we have learned and experienced. He was always with us, and with so many others. He stays in our hearts and minds.

Judith Ford, Ph.D.
University of California, San Francisco
President, BBRF Scientific Council
2003 BBRF Independent Investigator

I first met Herb Pardes 15 years ago, over the phone, when he called to tell me that I had been elected to the Scientific Council of NARSAD, as it was then known. I was touched that he made this call personally—he did not relegate it to his staff or email. He approached the Scientific Council as family, a family that he started and maintained. I loved the summer meetings of the Council when I had a chance to see how the best of the best runs meetings—he was efficient, effective, and fair. He presided over long discussions managing different points of view, summarizing what was said, and nimbly moving us forward. I wish I had had a chance to ask him how he does it, and I am hoping that his leadership secrets will be revealed in his autobiography.

When I was asked to join the leadership of the Young Investigator grants committee, I was honored and excited to play a more vital role in BBRF’s mission. It was then that I got the opportunity to work more closely with Herb, and in recent years, stepped in for him when he needed a bit of help. It is daunting to step into his shoes now, but I am a BBRF zealot and want to do whatever I can to keep Herb’s vision alive and move the Scientific Council forward through this transition.

Robert Freedman, M.D.
University of Colorado School of Medicine
BBRF Scientific Council
2015 BBRF Lieber Prize
2006, 1999 BBRF Distinguished Investigator

Herbert Pardes M.D. uniquely excelled at seeing connections between people—connections past, present, and future. He excelled at making full use of existing connections, in strengthening connections that were dormant, and in creating new connections among people who had been unaware of each other. He brought many of us, including myself, out of the isolated nooks of our research laboratories. He connected us with people who could help us and whom we could help, not only other scientists, but clinicians and community leaders as well. Herb was not hesitant to add his imprimatur to a new connection, so that each party would take it seriously and work to make it worthwhile.

I was his last recruitment when he was Chair of the Department at the University of Colorado. I saw my career as an investigator of the detailed electrophysiological actions of antipsychotic drugs at the single neuron level in animal models. Herb saw much more—he introduced me to clinicians and scientists at my own medical school and beyond. The connections he made helped me to see that that my neuroscience could and should be used to improve clinical treatment and ultimately to prevent mental illness.

He also asked much of me. He foresaw that I could lead the department that he left behind at Colorado and contribute my expertise to the national organizations that he saw as important to psychiatry—first and foremost the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation.

So many of us valued Herb’s help and cajoling because it was always clear to us that he had a higher purpose—the betterment of all of us and the conquering of mental illness, just as other diseases are being conquered. If there is a monument that he would value most, I think it would be the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, his forging of a unique, enduring bond between the community and the scientists whom he foresaw fulfilling that purpose.

Dilip V. Jeste, M.D.
Social Determinants of Health Network
BBRF Scientific Council
2002 BBRF Distinguished Investigator

I knew Herb from the time I was a research fellow at NIMH. He was a wonderful mentor, leader, friend, and advocate. I was always touched by his genuine kindness and compassion. He was a role model for countless people. It is really difficult to imagine how one person can have all the skills and talents he had. He was unquestionably one of the most important psychiatrists in the world of all times.

One of Herb’s singular accomplishments as the NIMH Director was managing to fund $228 million in research during two fiscal years after President Reagan and his budget advisor David Stockman drained NIH funding in 1980-81. This would have been impossible for any other leader in medical and especially mental health research. I was also taken by his acceptance of the offer to be the CEO/President of NewYork- Presbyterian. What distinguished Herb from others is how he made the most difficult jobs in the world seem so easy! Indeed, it was his ability to be positive and to be perceived as positive that makes the impossible possible.

I don’t know of anyone else who combines compassion and empathy with integrity in the large field of healthcare as well as Herb did. He never moved away from his forever motto: The patient comes first. One of my areas of research is wisdom. To me, Herb was the ultimate personification of wisdom.

John H. Krystal, M.D.
Yale University School of Medicine
Vice President, BBRF Scientific Council
2019 BBRF Colvin Prize
2006, 2000 BBRF Distinguished Investigator
1997 BBRF Independent Investigator

My first memory of Dr. Pardes dates to 1987 and served as a master class in scientific leadership. I was a third-year psychiatry resident who wrangled a liaison role to the American Psychiatric Association Research Council, then chaired by Dr. Pardes and facilitated by Dr. Harold Pincus I watched with awe as Dr. Pardes kept this group on track, despite numerous efforts by some to derail discussion, in order to achieve a number of important objectives. What I learned by watching him was that you could bring people who fundamentally disagreed to consensus through clarity of vision, openness to differing opinions, the judicious use of humor, and to frame discussions in a way that moved discussions toward resolution.

I never forgot that master class and I was thrilled to continue that class when I joined the Scientific Council and other groups in which he was active. He was a singular individual whose loss is deeply felt.

Francis S. Lee, M.D., Ph.D.
Weill Cornell Medicine Cornell University
BBRF Scientific Council
2010 BBRF Independent Investigator
2005, 2002 Young Investigator

I have had the privilege of working with Herb Pardes for more than 10 years at the Center for Youth Mental Health (formerly Youth Anxiety Center). One of my fondest professional experiences was serving as research co-director (along with Dr. Blair Simpson) as the Center was first launched. Herb convened weekly meetings with the Center faculty, and I observed his formidable talents as a leader with a vision to create a new type of Center that spanned basic research to clinical care of youth. He was a master at bringing together and inspiring a variety of faculty and stakeholders to work collectively on a common goal.

Over the years, Herb and I continued to meet regularly as he took an interest in my academic career. In our meetings, I would update him, and he would impart his typically sage advice. He would share stories about his own experiences in various leadership positions. I learned firsthand how one lives a life in the service of a greater good. I did not realize it at the time, but these meetings were a rare and generous gift imparted to me by a remarkable person—they had a profound influence on me at an inflection point in my career. To this day, I still reflect on his advice and am deeply grateful for his mentorship and friendship.

Helen S. Mayberg, M.D.
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
BBRF Scientific Council
2007 BBRF Falcone Prize
2002 BBRF Distinguished Investigator
1995 Independent Investigator
1991 Young Investigator

My interactions with Herb spanned nearly 30 years, all as part of the NARSAD/BBRF family. Herb always seemed the perfect paradox--both a leader and an everyman; and he often seemed to assume both roles simultaneously. It was one of his many superpowers.

Herb did so many things that changed the way we think about mental health: catalyzing research, fighting stigma, mentoring, collaboration, scientific philanthropy, building integrated models of care, recognizing humanitarian deeds beyond science—that to make any list understates his deep and sustained impact on our collective culture.

Herb was a visionary thought leader, but he didn't live in abstractions. He was both an optimist and pragmatist who saw his ideas through with deliberate and dogged persistence, always aware that it took a clear and well-thought-out plan with all hands on deck to achieve big goals. To be in a meeting with Herb as chair was a masterclass in how to listen deeply to all sides, while also ensuring an actionable plan by meeting's end.

Similarly, a phone call from Herb with an ask for help was never ambiguous or frivolous. He always made you feel that your participation would make a difference. He inspired by example, and we are all better for learning to follow his lead. I know I am.

Herbert Y. Meltzer, M.D.
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
BBRF Scientific Council
1992 BBRF Lieber Prize
2007, 2000, 1994, 1988 BBRF Distinguished Investigator

As one of the small group of mental health researchers interested in starting what was to become the NARSAD Scientific Council, I worked closely with Herb Pardes on all aspects of the effort to shape the policies that guided his efforts to get it right from the start. Great credit is due to Herb and his expert leadership for the success of our policies, evident in the amazing growth of the Scientific Council, whose members have contributed their expertise, and for the ability of NARSAD and later BBRF to work with the families to secure funding for research. All of this makes BBRF one of the premier organizations dedicated to research and education in mental health to have emerged worldwide over the last several decades. Herb Pardes’s unselfish advice, good humor, and wisdom provided the leadership which led to our success.

Eric J. Nestler, M.D., Ph.D.
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
BBRF Scientific Council
2009 BBRF Falcone Prize
2008 BBRF Goldman-Rakic Prize
1996 BBRF Distinguished Investigator

Herb Pardes made extraordinary contributions to the field of psychiatry. As director of the NIMH from 1978-1984, Herb strengthened the scientific mission of NIMH and reinforced the importance of fundamental biology in driving our nation’s efforts to better understand and treat mental illness. Herb later built Columbia Psychiatry into a powerhouse Department—one of the best in the country—by establishing key research groups across the spectrum of basic and clinical science.

He also uniquely engaged patient advocacy groups and earned their support for this renewed focus on the central importance of research. He was instrumental in founding NARSAD in 1987. As founding president of the Scientific Council, Herb garnered a spectacular level of philanthropic support from the Lieber family and many others to establish and sustain a new paradigm to provide research support for young investigators in mental health research. This was a crucial advance for our field which, unlike many others, lacked this type of investment. Since 1987, NARSAD/BBRF has awarded close to half a billion dollars to more than 5,000 scientists globally, arguably having a greater impact in building and nurturing our psychiatry research workforce than any other organization in the world other than NIH. This impact is testimony to Herb’s creative vision, commitment, and perseverance and defines his extraordinary legacy. He will be missed.

Alan F. Schatzberg, M.D.
Stanford University School of Medicine
BBRF Scientific Council
2005 Falcone Prize

Herb Pardes was a giant in our field and succeeded at the highest levels of mental health academia, professional associations, and government. He was a successful Chairman at the University of Colorado and Columbia University because he had a great ability to select faculty whom he could nurture to become “winners” as well as his own interpersonal charm and warmth. Those traits were beacons for me personally on how to succeed as a Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, in my case at Stanford University.

My own personal interactions with Herb were largely around the American Psychiatric Association and the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation. He was a great president of the APA in 1989–1990 and a model for me during my presidency 20 years later. He remained involved over the ensuing years and was available for giving helpful advice. I remember three interactions with Herb at the APA. We were both on a small committee to select the next Medical Director and CEO. Herb was a diligent member who had a keen eye for evaluating leadership talent. Another involved a passion of his as chair of a session at the Annual Meeting which featured up-and-coming scientists’ work. I was honored to present at one of those and Herb was gracious in his hospitality and made incisive comments about the science presented. A few years back, Herb was unable to chair the symposium, and he called me and asked if I could stand in for him. I was honored to do so, and I was struck by how important he thought the session was for the Annual Meeting and how sorry he was not to be able to come to San Francisco.

His support for the up-and-coming young mental health scientist was a love that fueled his co-founding BBRF and chairing the Scientific Council for years. I have so many memories of his work at the BBRF. One day he called me to indicate I had been elected to the Council and then less than an hour later called again to congratulate me on winning the Falcone Award. (I didn’t tell him that he could have save some money in combining these into one call.) I was always impressed by his great stewardship of the annual meetings of the Scientific Council, his emceeing the Scientific Council and the annual awards dinners, etc. All of this was done with warmth and a dedication to the mission of the BBRF, its Board and its Scientific Council, and the importance of ultimately helping those who suffer from mental illness. He will be missed by all of us.

Daniel Weinberger, M.D.
Johns Hopkins University; Lieber Institute for Brain Development
BBRF Scientific Council
1993 Lieber Prize 2000, 1990
BBRF Distinguished Investigator

Dr. Pardes was a dear friend over many years, a colleague and an inspiring leader. I have been blessed by having had the opportunity to work with, learn from, and follow in his footsteps since I began as a medical staff fellow at the NIMH where he was director.

He helped me in ways that go far beyond any specific event. My earliest memories of Herb echo his prescient insight about moving psychiatry research into the mainstream of neuroscience, including his passionate support for launching PET imaging research at the NIMH in Bethesda.

Dr. Pardes had a unique combination of wisdom, humor and compassion. He was a leader's leader, as Director of NIMH, then as Chair of Psychiatry at Columbia, eventually as President of the NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital system. During all these years, he sustained the BBRF Scientific Council with his singular skills and leadership. His indelible footprints are responsible for the unprecedented successes that mark all of his endeavors. He epitomized being a good listener, not just waiting for his chance to talk, but asking illuminating questions and translating information into constructive action. Anyone who has attended years of his leading Scientific Council meetings for BBRF can testify to his unique skill in navigating the egos of prominent scientists wanting to be heard.

Dr. Pardes devoted his life to mental health research. He mentored gifted scientists to ensure a bright future for the field. He fostered growth in neuropsychiatric research to pave the way for new treatments to benefit patients and their families. His legacy will live on in the work of all those who benefit from BBRF, from its staff, its scientific advisory Board members, from the many scientists and trainees who were supported by BBRF, and the patients whose lives were touched by the science that he embraced. I extend my deepest condolences to his beloved family as we grieve alongside them.

Myrna Weissman, Ph.D.
Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University
BBRF Scientific Council
2020 BBRF Pardes Humanitarian Prize
1994 BBRF Selo Prize
2005, 2000, 1991 BBRF Distinguished Investigator

Herbert Pardes knew the importance of science in dealing with illness. He knew how compassion would accelerate its impact. He knew the structure upon which to build. He was a giant and an approachable friend.

He decided that I should join the faculty at Columbia, even though I really didn’t want to move to New York and was happy at Yale. He came to our home on a Saturday morning. I was convinced he would not leave until I agreed. He subsequently told me that I was a great negotiator, ignoring the power of his persuasion.

He will be missed. His person, his ideas, his brilliance and his humor are in so much of what we do here every day.

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