On the occasion of Manfred W. J. Gerlach's 60th anniversary.

Abstract

Manfred Gerlach is the founding editor in chief of this journal. This issue is dedicated to him as an outstanding personality in the fields of developmental child and adolescent as well as adult psychiatry and neurology. His scientific opus represents an extremely broad and unique scientific spectrum from childhood to adulthood bridging the gap between psychiatry and neurology. His multilevel research interests combine developmental aspects with psychopathological behavior and neuropsychiatric symptoms of diseases with brain structure and brain function as well as biochemical and psychophysiological parameters and molecular aspects. Manfred Gerlach was born on May 10, 1954, in Hammelburg, Germany. He studied chemistry and pharmacy at the University of Wurzburg, Germany. He earned the doctorate in 1983. He worked as Scientific Assistant at the Clinical Neurochemistry, Dept. of Neurology, University Wurzburg (1984–1987) and at the Dept. of Neurology, University Bochum (1987–1992). In 1991, he reached habilitation in clinical neurochemistry at the Dept. of Neurology (Head Prof. Dr. Horst Przuntek), University Bochum. In 1998, he became Associate Professor of Clinical Neurochemistry of the University Bochum. From 1992 to 2000 Manfred Gerlach joined as Scientific Assistant at the Clinical Neurochemistry Unit (chaired by Peter Riederer) at the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University of Wurzburg. Since 2000, he is Head of the Clinical Neurobiology and Therapeutic Drug Monitoring Section of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy University of Wurzburg with Andreas Warnke (until 2012) and Marcel Romanos (since 2012). Manfred Gerlach initiated and performed a large number of research projects. His research was funded by the German research funding organisation (DFG) and the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). Most projects were performed in close cooperation with his friend and scientific partner Peter Riederer. Colleagues of national and international scientific groups of departments of psychiatry and neurology and of child and adolescent psychiatry are partners in his many research projects. His methodological approach includes experimental methods in the field of biochemistry, pharmacology, genetics, proteomics and brain imaging. His major research topics and findings include: