Brain specimens are obtained during routine autopsies conducted at the Allegheny County Office of the Medical Examiner (Pittsburgh) following the consent of the next of kin. An independent committee of experienced research clinicians makes consensus DSM-IV diagnoses for all subjects on the basis of medical records and structured diagnostic interviews conducted with the decedent’s family members. All procedures for Pitt samples have been approved by the University of Pittsburgh’s Committee for the Oversight of Research involving the Dead and Institutional Review Board for Biomedical Research.
