Nurturing scientific minds: Menninger at mid-20th century
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Updated: Nov 3, 2026

Ole Isacson: Development of New Therapies for Parkinson's Disease
Published on: April 29, 2007
1Department of Psychology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.
Abstract:
The beginnings of the Menninger School in 1946 witnessed a felicitous combination of inspiring and brilliant faculty, eager and intelligent students, a nurturing reciprocity between clinical excellence and research commitment, an open acceptance of incisive questioning of dogma and received knowledge, and an implicit tenure system, which made it possible to develop behavioral scientists who learned to pursue research activities and to administer clinical care. At that time, the relative absence of barriers between disciplines taught students how to forge multidisciplinary collaborations that strengthened their scientific efforts. The author ponders whether such training of clinical researchers can be re-created.
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