U-of-I part of large research project on Schizophrenia

University of Iowa researchers are part of what’s being called the largest clinical trial ever conducted in the mental health field. Dr. Del Miller says the study will compare four new medicines against current drugs used to treat schizophrenia. The study will focus mainly on the side effects of the drugs. Miller is an associate professor of psychiatry, who says approximately one-in-a-hundred Americans have schizophrenia.The U-of-I is one of 50 medical centers across the U-S working on the 43-million-dollar study. Miller says it will include 18-hundred patients, including about 30 Iowans.The study will take four years to complete. Miller says the drugs are also used to treat people with Alzheimer’s disease. He says a smaller side study will examine the effectiveness of the drugs on those patients.