Six years ago, Bruce had endowed $700 million to what had then been the Center for Psychiatric Research of Gotham University. At the time, it had been one of the largest ever commitments to scientific research. This led the university to moniker the research center after him for the philanthropic act.
The Center's budding work had captured Bruce's imagination upon the publication of a paper from a team of scientific investigators. Their study suggested strong findings of genetic causes for those patients diagnosed at Arkham. Bruce had seen the latent potential by giving the Center the boost it could use to speed up the development of associated treatments.
Bruce had grown tired with forensic psychiatry, the approach of choice at Arkham for its patients-cum-inmates. He'd too often seen the shared attributes of those he took into custody, experiencing delusions, paranoia, or bouts of mania.
Bruce understood schizophrenia, for instance, wasn't a synonym for violent crime. Schizophrenics were at increased risk of criminal behavior, but the association was small. In the US, police arrested, and the courts imprisoned, those with mental illness at higher levels. Psychiatric patients on the streets meant more encounters with the police. The GCPD were ill-equipped, with insufficient training, to deal with this. This deficit of understanding extended to the local courts and penal system. The outcome was a mistaken discrimination of the criminal disposition of mental illness.
Bruce further understood the confluence of homelessness, substance abuse and unemployment. When coupled with mental illness and long-term drug and alcohol use, this increased the risk of criminal behavior. For those in such circumstances, sticking with a treatment for serious mental issues was difficult. This was only available to those able to access treatment in the first place.
Naomi Wu was the lead investigator at the Wayne Center for the team developing therapies to treat psychiatric illnesses.
Bruce had earlier come to know of Dr. Wu via one of her opinion pieces published in the Gotham Gazette. Wu, trained in molecular biology, had been working for a biotech company at the time, before joining the Wayne Center. Her earlier research identified the genetic underpinnings of schizophrenia. This had led to the development of the initial stages of promising treatments in gene therapy. At Bruce's urging, based on her Gazette piece, the Center poached her.
Dr. Wu and her team at the Center were now engineering vectors which could act as vehicles for gene delivery into cells of the nervous system. Via a molecule of DNA, such as a virus, biologists could introduce foreign DNA into a host cell. This allowed for genetic recombination. Successful introduction of foreign DNA then fostered its replication within the host. The new DNA became part of the cell's biological processes, creating a sequence of genes not found in its original genome. From here, it was possible for the information in this new gene sequence to express itself as an observable phenotype, or trait.
Dr. Wu and her team's work was able to target specific genes and cell types using these DNA vectors. The eventual aim was the prevention and treatment of psychiatric disorders. But the team was still a long way from this promise, despite the excitement of their ongoing research.
Naomi Wu had first studied medicine, before completing her medical residency in a psychiatric hospital. Rather than going on to practice as a psychiatrist in a clinical setting, Wu had become more excited by the path of breakthroughs in treatments via R&D.
Dr. Wu was aware Bruce had been behind her being head-hunted from her prior job at the biotech firm, remaining grateful to Bruce for championing her.
There had been a couple earlier occasions when he'd come to her in a private capacity with queries of a psychiatric nature. Their utility to him was often cryptic and opaque to her, and she could seldom identify the application to his own life. She was content to help where she could though, maintaining discretion about Bruce's queries.
