School of Medicine

September 30, 2003

Dr. Manuel Tancer to chair psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences at the Wayne State University School of Medicine

Manuel Tancer, M.D., has been named chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. He will jointly serve as psychiatrist-in-chief for the Detroit Medical Center (DMC), giving him leadership over all WSU and DMC research and clinical programs in psychiatry. He had been serving as interim chair since 2001, and was chosen for the permanent position after competing in a comprehensive national search.

“Dr. Tancer is a strong advocate for mental health research and clinical programs. He is passionate about the role of research in improving clinical care and about clinical care informing research,” said Dr. Maryjean Schenk, who headed the search committee that recommended Dr. Tancer for the position.

With great experience as a faculty member, research director and clinician, Dr. Tancer says citizens need parity for mental health coverage, particularly in Michigan. “People are finally recognizing mental health as a serious medical specialty, but we need to increase quality and accessibility. Research and evidence-based medicine are the keys to developing quality systems of care,” Dr. Tancer said.

Since joining Wayne State University in 1994, Dr. Tancer has served many roles in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences. He has been interim chair, associate chair, associate professor, director of adult clinical programs, director of the psychiatry residency program, director of the neuropsychiatric research unit, director of the ambulatory research unit, and medical director for several programs including brain imaging, the comoribidity program, the clinical research division on substance abuse, and the social phobia clinical research program.

His own research interests are: the long-term consequences of MDMA use (ecstasy) for which he has a sizable National Institutes of Health grant; concurrent conditions like addiction and bipolar disorder, which are difficult to treat in unison; social phobia, and individual differences in the effects of drugs and medications—all of which have earned him external funding support and awards.

Dr. Tancer earned a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a medical degree from the University of Arizona College of Medicine. He did a psychiatry internship at Arizona; a residency at the North Carolina Memorial Hospital/University of North Carolina School of Medicine; and a fellowship in anxiety and affective disorders at the National Institute of Mental Health. He was a faculty member for four years at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and came to Detroit in 1994. He began practicing psychiatry and directing research at the Allen Park/Detroit Veteran’s Administration Medical Center and joined the faculty at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. He continues to see patients at the University Psychiatric Center--Jefferson and at the Jefferson Avenue Research Program.

As chair of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences, Dr. Tancer leads one of the school’s largest and most productive areas of research. With 71 full-time faculty members and 117 voluntary/teaching faculty members, WSU psychiatrists and scientists are at work throughout DMC institutions, multiple private practice sites, and agencies and hospitals throughout southeast Michigan. The department generated $11.5 million in external research funding in 2002, and according to the National Institutes of Health, ranks 24th in the country in terms of total funding (2001 figure—latest available). The department’s main research areas include: pediatric disorders (obsessive-compulsive disorder, anxiety disorders), developmental impact of drug or toxin exposure, adherence to treatment, brain imaging, basic neurosciences, substance abuse and addiction, psychophysiology; chronic mental illness (bipolar disorder and co-occurring disorders), and disparities that impede access to mental health care.

“I believe research drives policy,” Dr. Tancer said. “The WSU School of Medicine is committed to cultivating research programs that help our community get high-quality mental health care.”

The Wayne State University School of Medicine is the largest single-campus medical school in the country. Together with the Wayne State University Physician Group, the school is a leader in patient care and medical research in a number of areas including cancer, genetics, women’s and children’s health and the neurosciences.

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