PUBLIC-ACADEMIC LIAISON RESEARCH CENTERS IN AN ERA OF MANAGED CARE

Public-Academic Liaison research centers (PALs) have traditionally pro vided benefits to both state mental health authorities (SMHAs) and aca demic institutions. The advent of managed care, austere state fiscal b udgets, and a restructured national research development capacity sugg ests the need for new administrative approaches to PAL research effort s to maintain these benefits in this era of rapidly changing health ca re. This brief report outlines one such approach by the Massachusetts SMHA in its efforts to establish two PAL research centers: one for cli nical neuroscience, and one for behavioral and forensic science. Preli minary two-year outcomes are presented, and the implications of the mo del are discussed.