FEATURE

Benjamin Liptzin MD, Chair, Department of Psychiatry, Awarded 2010 Weinberg Family Prize

Dr. Benjamin Liptzin received the Weinberg Prize for his outstanding work as a teacher, leader, and researcher and advocate in geriatric psychiatry. Dr. Liptzin finds it gratifying to be recognized by his peers and home institution, and says, “It’s a message to others in the organization that Baystate supports and encourages people’s academic activities.”

Liptzin is motivated by his department’s academic mission, believing that educating people for the future is a way to greatly expand one’s influence. “As a clinician who mostly sees individual patients there are only so many people I can affect, but as a teacher and researcher, I have the opportunity to make a difference to a much larger population, and advance the field as a whole.”

Launching a new psychiatry residency in 2009 is one of his proudest accomplishments. It was gratifying to have the RRC approve their application with no restrictions or concerns. This year they have more than 750 applications for 4 slots; since there are fewer than 2,000 applicants nationwide, almost half have applied here. He finds it exciting to see the program grow under Dr. Steven Fischel’s leadership. “The faculty is doing a great job, and the residents are working hard and learning a lot. I’ve been getting lots of positive feedback from other departments that they really enjoy working with our residents.”

Dr. Liptzin has been a national leader in field of geriatric psychiatry for more than 30 years. He has served on the American Psychiatric Association Board of Trustees, and authored the delirium section in DSM-IV. Liptzin started one of the first NIMH-funded geriatric psychiatry fellowships in the U.S. at McLean Hospital at Harvard Medical School and was Director of the Public Health Service-funded Geriatric Education Center there. He received a 3-year Geriatric Mental Health Academic Award from NIMH in 1983.

But, Liptzin maintains that facilitating the careers of his faculty is almost more gratifying than his own accomplishments. He says that, for a small department, Psychiatry has a disproportionate share of the NIH grants coming to Baystate, primarily due to the work of Dr. Garry Welch in behavioral health and Dr. Lewis Cohen in renal palliative care.

Liptzin is quick to acknowledge the help of his assistant Doreen Gonyea, who has been with him for 15 years, saying, “I couldn’t do I do without her, she’s made a huge difference.”

He also recognizes the support of his faculty in developing their academic enterprise. He credits Dr. Barry Sarvet, Vice Chair, for building a high-powered child psychiatry division, one that has been selected by the APA - along with the University of Colorado, Stanford and Columbia - to be a field site for testing new diagnostic criteria for childhood behavior disorders.

Dr. Liptzin has also been nominated for the Jack Weinberg Memorial Award for Geriatric Psychiatry of the American Psychiatric Association, a very competitive national award.

Weinberg Family Prize Has Recognized Outstanding Academic Achievement Since 1997

This prize, created through the generosity of Dr. Ethel Weinberg and her husband, Saul Weinberg, is awarded annually to a faculty member whose innovative research, publications, or leadership of a national academic organization have brought honor to Baystate Health.