About Us
We are a group of doctors and trainees engaged
in research in Impulse-Control Disorders (ICD) and
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and treat patients in our
specialty clinic.
We treat Pathological Gambling Disorder, Compulsive
Shopping Disorder, Kleptomania (shoplifting), Pyromania (fire setting),
Compulsive Sexual Addictions, Alcohol Dependency, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder,
Skin Picking, Trichotillomania (hair pulling) and Body Dysmorphic Disorder.
Recently, ICD have also been coined as Behavioral
Addictions. The term 'Behavioral' comes from the fact that patients with ICD, in
general, are not addicted to the illicit drugs but addicted to a specific
behavior such as gambling, shopping, shoplifting or fire setting. Underlying
problem for all of the ICD is that patients with ICD have uncontrolled urges to
engage in a behavior that gives them short-term pleasure or excitement. We have
conducted a series of research work to find pharmacological means of dampening
urges (cravings) that seem to lead to behavioral control.
We conduct research to elucidate pathophysiological links
to the ICD and OCD and conduct clinical trials to come up with better and
improved treatments for our patients.
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank Mogenson GJ, Ph.D. for his
pioneering and original work on the subject of "Motivation to action" in 1980.
In this research Mogenson and his colleagues applied neural system concept while
others were deeply entrenched in the biogenic amine concept. We thank Kalivas
PW, Ph.D. and his colleagues for their unparalleled research on motivation that
has helped us forge our concept. We thank Frank Burton, Ph.D. for his D1
transgenic mouse that has helped us in the development of our concept. We thank Zald
D, Ph.D. whose work on the anatomy and function of the orbital frontal
cortex has helped us understand how the brain processes salient objects. We
thank Carmichael ST, M.D., Ph.D. and Price JL, Ph.D. for their anatomical
tracing work that has led, for the first time, to the detailed mapping of the
connectivity within and outside of the orbital frontal cortex and contributed
toward improved understanding of the function of the structure. We thank Hartman
BK, M.D. and Faris PL, Ph.D. for their foresight on the importance of neural
system concept, their brilliant research thinking and their support that have
influenced our research thinking. We thank Clayton PJ, M.D. for her tireless support for
research work and love of knowledge. We thank Hyman SE, M.D. for reading and
providing comments for our original concept paper. We thank Tamminga CA, M.D.
and Nestler EJ, M.D., Ph.D. for writing an Editorial on the paper written by
Grant JE, J.D., M.D. and colleagues. We thank Berridge KC, Ph.D., Schultz W,
M.D., Robbins TW, Ph.D. and others whose basic science work was invaluable in
our translation to the clinical population. Last but not least we want to thank
our patients for helping us understand their symptoms.
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Suck Won Kim
Suck Won Kim, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry,
was born and raised in Seoul, Korea. Kim attended Catholic
University Medical College in Seoul, Korea. Kim came to the U.S. in
1966 to receive internship training at the Western Pennsylvania
hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. On the following year Kim moved to
Minneapolis, Minnesota to embark on his psychiatry residency
training at the University of Minnesota Hospitals. In 1970, Kim was
invited to work at the Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis
as an attending psychiatrist. Kim worked as a clinical psychiatrist
for the next 14 years. Kim was a family man with two children. Kim
did not know research then. Later, changing events within the county
forced Kim to turn to an academic psychiatrist. Not long after, Kim
was invited to join the Department of Psychiatry at the University
of Minnesota Medical School. Kim has been conducting research in
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and Impulse-Control Disorders since.
In 1998, Kim published an original paper. In this paper Kim proposed
that behavioral addictions (Impulse-Control Disorders) were
regulated by the same neural circuit as the drug addictions and
advanced a new hypothesis that opioid antagonists will be effective
in the treatment of Impulse-Control Disorders (go to www.pubmed.gov and enter 9590665 in the search area).
Three crucial findings have
emerged: 1) target of treatment should be urges (craving) in a given
patient, rather than a clinical diagnosis such as alcoholism, as has
been the case in the past, 2) naltrexone dose should be higher than
the dose tested in alcoholism; and, 3) for safety, patients should
be restricted from concurrent use of over-the-counter pain
medicines. Kim's research in this area has been supported by grants
from the National Center for Responsible Gaming and National
Institute of Mental Health. Jon Grant, J.D., M.D. in our team, a
national and international leader in Impulse-Control Disorder
research, was crucial in the preparation and publication of the
above data. Kim's wife, Young, is a homemaker, has undergraduate and
graduate degrees in journalism from E-Wha Women's University in
Seoul, Korea. Son, Samuel, is a practicing neurosurgeon in
California and daughter, Sandra, is undergoing residency training in
internal medicine at the Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. Kim is
dedicated to his golf.
Suck Won Kim's Scientific Publications Page
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Jon E. Grant
Dr. Grant is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the
University of Minnesota and co-directs a clinic for Impulse Control
Disorders at the University of Minnesota Medical Center in
Minneapolis, MN. Dr. Grant completed an undergraduate degree at the
University of Michigan, a master's degree at the University of
Chicago, a law degree from Cornell University, a medical degree from
Brown University, and a masters degree in public health from Harvard
University. Dr. Grant is a board-certified psychiatrist.
Dr. Grant has written over 100 peer-reviewed articles and book
chapters on the phenomenology and pharmacological management of
impulse control disorders, particularly pathological gambling,
kleptomania, and grooming disorders. He is the author of Stop Me
Because I Can't Stop Myself, a book on impulse control disorders
published by McGraw-Hill (2002) (co-authored with Dr. Suck Won Kim),
and co-editor (along with Marc Potenza) of two books published by
the American Psychiatric Association Pathological Gambling: A
Clinical Guide to Treatment (2004) and A Textbook of Men's Mental
Health (in press). Dr. Grant's research is funded by the National
Institutes of Mental Health.
Jon E. Grant's Scientific Publications Page
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Brian L. Odlaug
Brian L. Odlaug is the lead clinical research coordinator for
the Impulse Control Disorders clinic at the University of Minnesota
and currently resides in St. Paul. He attended Saint Olaf College and
double-majored in Psychology and Theology, graduating in 2002. While at
St. Olaf, he worked on numerous research projects including psychophysiological
response in relation to musical impulses while identifying triggers
for those responses. He also collaborated on projects studying
working memory and cognition. During an internship at the Burnsville
Counseling and Healing Center, Brian developed an acute interest in
working with children with ADHD and helped to develop a diagnostic
and treatment program for this population using biofeedback therapy.
In 2005, Brian did empirical research on the topic of suicidality in
children and adolescents who take anti-depressant medications. The
results of this research were presented in various hospitals and
other social venues throughout the Twin Cities. Currently, Brian is
working on impulse control disorder research at the University of
Minnesota in the Department of Psychiatry. This research includes
such topics as gambling, kleptomania, neurotic excoriation,
methamphetamine dependence and trichotillomania. Brian is an avid
musician and golfer.
From Kim: Brian is a scratch golfer! An extraordinary accomplishment;
prescient to what is to come down the pike. We have no fear as long
as he is in our team.
Brian L. Odlaug's Scientific Publications Page
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