[Spring 2001; Vol. 27, No. 3; Pg 2]
President Clinton appointed psychiatrist James Harris, M.D. to the President's Committee on Mental Retardation. The committee advises the President and the Secretary of Health and Human Services on policies and programs affecting services and supports for people with mental retardation. Dr. Harris, sworn in for a two-year term, brings scientific expertise on genetic and environmental mechanisms underlying mental retardation to the 18-member committee, as well as an understanding of how mental retardation may be associated with disruptive and violent behavior. Dr. Harris is credited with founding the academic field of developmental neuropsychiatry and serves as director of developmental neuropsychiatry at Johns Hopkins.