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Bernard Carroll, MB, BS, DPM, PhD

ACNP Fellow Emeritus

Dr. Bernard J “Barney” Carroll passed away from lung cancer on Monday, 10 September 2018, at the age of 77. Barney was a former Chair of Psychiatry at Duke University, Fellow Emeritus of ACNP, to which he belonged for over 40 years, and recipient of many awards and honors for his scientific research. He was a pioneer and leader in clinical neuroendocrinology, best known for his development of the low-dose dexamethasone suppression test (DST), a biomarker of severe, melancholic depression that he meticulously studied for its applicability to differential diagnosis and the progress of treatment. His report, 'A specific laboratory test for the diagnosis of melancholia: standardization, validation, and clinical utility (Arch Gen Psychiatry 38, 15–22, 1981)', is the definitive statement on the subject and stands as a testament to the scientific rigor Barney brought to his research.

Barney received all his professional training at the University of Melbourne, Australia—BS 1961, MBBS 1964, Dipl Psychol Med 1969, and PhD Clin Psychobiology 1971. His research and other professional interests developed while he was in medical school. Samuel Gershon, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh, comments that, “I met Barney 56 years ago. I was a member of the Department of Pharmacology at the University Melbourne, and we had started offering research fellowships to medical students after their third year. Barney was one of the first two. He was involved in myriad medical student issues and an active voice on campus. He represented our students at meetings abroad and always spoke out on issues of importance. Throughout his career he was acutely sensitive in discussions of research findings, including his own, and became active in pointing out inappropriate or premature presentations of scientific data. He was a stalwart who spoke and acted with honor. We have lost a colleague, friend, and monitor of scientific integrity.”

In 1971 Barney immigrated to the United States. He spent 2 years at the University of Pennsylvania with Joe Mendels and 10 years at the University of Michigan, where he developed the Depression Research Unit and brought it to national and international prominence. He then became Chair of Psychiatry at Duke University, 1983–1990, and remained on faculty as Professor until 1998 when he retired and moved to Carmel, CA. He regarded his retirement as a prolonged sabbatical, during which he was free to write scientific articles and opinion pieces without political or institutional constraints.

Among his retirement activities, Barney was a frequent contributor to the Health Care Renewal Blog, using masterful English to write withering prose, primarily about conflicts of interest (COI) in medicine. Because of his integrity and scientific rigor, he considered sloppy/mendacious science, especially in the service of financial gain, as his beté noire. Early on I joined Barney in what, in retrospect, were pioneering efforts to expose COI in psychiatry, to the consternation of several so-called academic “key opinion leaders.” Our efforts led to demonstrably higher awareness among scientific societies, including ACNP,  and major publishers, as well as members of Congress, that irreparable degradation of truth and trust in science can result from biased and fraudulent presentations and writings.

Barney is survived by his wife, Sylvia, to whom he was married for 52 years, and by his daughter Senga and son Jeremy. I am fortunate to have been his colleague and close friend for 50 years. May he rest in peace.