>> our science base has substantially progressed. in the last half century, understanding their brain, advancing research for mental health and substance abuse has

been the rule. in this session we will explore the advances that have been made and with these developments harold for new developments, treatment prevention, strategies and policies. we assembled a stellar panel. i am thrilled to introduce the panel, starting with someone you may have seen on the science channel, dr. sanjay gupta. he is a practicing neurosurgeon and professor of neurosurgery at emory university in atlanta. . he reports on breaking medical news, provides regular health and medical updates on american

morning and makers of medical affairs program. joining dr. sanjay gupta r. richard gephardt boosters as house majority leader from 1989 to 1995. today he is president and ceo of gephardt group government affairs. what in the -- what a coincidence to be heading accompanying with the same name as his. is a strategic advice to clients before the house science and executive branch of government. we are joined by dr. ron kessler, professor of health care policy at harvard medical school. that is the most cited mental

health researcher. dr. kessler's research deals broadly with the social determinants of mental health and illness, and let was mentioning, as we were chatting about, his work has been so successful, it has been repeatedly cited by people like tipper gore who cite all kinds of findings. finally, it is a pleasure to introduce the ceo of the american association for the advancement of science and executive publisher, what is probably the most prestigious journal in science, cleverly named science. dr. lester serve for 7 years, the national institute on drug abuse and serve for many years to the point where he was close to assisting the banquet on the executive conference for wall.

the acting director of the national institute of mental health. alan has been a longtime colleague, his fingerprints was all over it. and it was a very strong orientation towards research. point sanjay gupta. >> thank you all for come in. [applause] >> i am delighted to be here. if you rick watch cnn, you see reflected on when we approach these stories. if you look up the advancement, the understanding and treatment, mental illness overall, there's a lot to talk about, this panel could go on to some time, it has been some time coming, not only to look at where we have been but