Research: Advancing Science
Advancing science is integral in fulfilling the fundamental purpose of academic medicine in society, which is to create - and prepare the way - for a better future. We do this by exploring the nature of the brain - its function, strengths, vulnerabilities, and development, and we examine the origins and optimal interventions for mental illness. Science - discovery and evidence - leads and links all that we do in the Department. Better knowledge translates to improved care for those living with mental illness, as well as the medical community and society as a whole. Our department strives to promote new discoveries and understand well-being and mental health across the lifespan using insights from clinical and fundamental neuroscience. We engage in multidisciplinary, interdisciplinary, and transdisciplinary efforts that are uniquely possible at Stanford University.
Research in the Department
(investigators listed alphabetically)
Daniel Abrams, PhD - Neurobiological foundations of language impairment
Steven Adelsheim, MD - Early intervention for child/adolescent mental health issues
W. Stewart Agras, MD - Eating Disorder Research Program
Ronald Albucher, MD - College/University Student Mental Health
Bruce Arnow, PhD - Mood Disorders Center
Jacob Ballon, MD, MPH - Outcomes research in schizophrenia and psychotic disorders
Rebecca Bernert, PhD - Science of Suicide Prevention
Cara Bohon, PhD - Neural Bases of Eating Disorders and Obesity
Michelle Cao, DO - Central sleep apnea and respiratory assist devices for sleep apnea treatment
Victor Carrion, MD - Early Life Stress and Pediatric Anxiety Program
Kiki Chang, MD - Pediatric Bipolar Disorders Program
Luis DeLecea, PhD - Neurobiology of Brain States
Charles DeBattista, DMH, MD - Depression Research Clinic
Karl Deisseroth, M.D., Ph.D. - Deisseroth Lab
William Dement, MD, PhD - Sleep and Dreams
Firdaus Dhabhar, PhD - Stress - protective versus harmful effects
Amit Etkin, MD, PhD - Etkin Lab
Lawrence Fung, MD, PhD - Molecular Neuroimaging and Neuropsychopharmacology of Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Dolores Gallagher-Thompson, PhD, ABPP - Stanford Geriatric Education Center
Amy Garrett, PhD - The effects of psychotherapy on brain function
Cheryl Gore-Felton, PhD - Psychology and Biobehavioral Sciences Laboratory
Scott Hall, PhD, BCBA-D - Applied Behavior Analysis Lab
Joachim Hallmayer, MD - Genetics, iPSCs and Neurodevelopmental Disorders
Antonio Hardan, MD - Autism and Developmental Disorders Research Program
David Hong, MD - Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research (CIBSR): Imaging-Genetics and Sex Differences Research
Keith Humphreys, PhD - Addictions and Health Policy
Booil Jo, PhD - Latent variable and causal modeling approaches to study treatment response heterogeneity
Shashank Joshi, MD - School Mental Health; School-based Suicide Prevention; Culture and Psychiatry; Community-based Participatory Research
Terence Ketter, MD - Adult Bipolar Disorder Studies at Stanford Bipolar Disorders Clinic
Christina Khan, MD, PhD - Global mental health, Risk and resilience in vulnerable populations
Cheryl Koopman, PhD - Psychology and Biobehavioral Sciences Laboratory
Clete Kushida, MD, PhD - Center for Human Sleep Research
Anna Lembke, MD - Stanford Addiction Medicine Program (SAMP)
Douglas Levinson, MD - Program on the Genetics Of Brain Function
James Lock, MD, PhD - Eating Disorders Research Program
David Lyons, PhD - Behavioral Neuroscience
Rob Malenka, MD, PhD - Nancy Friend Pritzker Laboratory
Rachel Manber, PhD - Depression and Insomnia Research Program
Vinod Menon, PhD - Stanford Cognitive and Systems Neurosciences Laboratory
Emmanuel Mignot, MD, PhD - Center for Narcolepsy & KLS Research Center
Philippe Mourrain, PhD - Genetics, Neurobiology, and Computational Analysis of Sleep and Associated Behaviors Laboratory
Seiji Nishino, MD, PhD - Sleep & Circadian Neurobiology Laboratory
Ruth O’Hara, PhD - Lifespan Approaches to Neuropsychiatric Disorders Program
Maurice Ohayon, MD, DSc, PhD - Sleep Epidemiology Research Center
Michael J. Ostacher, MD, MPH, MMSc - Stanford/VA Bipolar and Depression Research Program
Oxana Palesh, PhD, MPH - Cancer Control and Cancer Survivorship Research
Karen Parker, PhD - Social Neurosciences Research Program
Sergiu Pasca, MD - Cellular Mechanisms of Neuropsychiatric Disorders Laboratory
Natalie Rasgon, MD, PhD - Center for Neuroscience in Women's Health
Daryn Reicherter, MD - Human Rights in Trauma Mental Health Laboratory
Allan Reiss, MD - Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research (CIBSR)
Thalia Robakis, MD, PhD - Biology of perinatal mood disorders
Laura Roberts, MD, MA - Roberts Ethics Laboratory
Srikanth Ryali, PhD - Machine Learning and Signal Processing Methods for Neuroimaging
Manish Saggar, PhD - Center for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences Research (CIBSR): Quantifying fluctuations in intrinsic brain activity
Alan Schatzberg, MD - Mood Disorders Center and Depression Research Clinic
Manpreet Singh, MD, MS - PEdiatric Affective Resilience Lab (PEARL), Mood Disorders Center, and the Pediatric Bipolar Disorders Program
David Spiegel, MD - Center On Stress and Health
Edith Sullivan, PhD - Alcohol Translational Neuroscience Program
Trisha Suppes, MD, PhD - Stanford/VA Bipolar and Depression Research Program
Craig B. Taylor, MD - Laboratory for the Study of Behavioral Medicine
Jared Tinklenberg, MD - Stanford/VA Alzheimer's Center
Alexander Urban, PhD - Human Genomes and Brain Development and Function
Leanne Williams, PhD - Panlab: Personalized and Translational Neuroscience Lab
Jerome Yesavage, MD - Stanford/VA Aging Clinical Research Center
Jamie Zeitzer, PhD - Circadian Research Laboratory
Divisions and Research Initiatives
Clinical & Translational Neurosciences Incubator
A primary emphasis of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences is to develop outstanding academic and mental healthcare system leaders who will lead mental health research, education and clinical excellence in the 21st century. The Incubator Initiative engages faculty experts across the Department who offer guidance and advise advice targeted to early-career investigators and scholars.
Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Child Development
The mission of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Child Development is advancing science through exploration of psychopathology in children and adolescents; psychotherapy process and outcomes; early childhood stress/trauma; and psychological adjustment. The goal is to increase our understanding of the pathophysiology of youth mental health concerns including mood, eating, childhood medical, anxiety, and autism and related disorders using innovative translational approaches ranging from stem cell research to imaging and clinical trials.
Division of General Psychiatry and Psychology
The Division of General Psychiatry and Psychology encompasses a dynamic array of research topics from the immunological response to stress to digital platforms for dementia caregivers across the world. All of the research in this division is united by a drive, desire, and dedication to understanding the mechanisms – biologic, neurologic, environmental, and more – that affect an individual’s mental health and to determine if interventions can help impacted individuals.
Division of Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences
The Division for Interdisciplinary Brain Sciences (DIBS) is dedicated to research that will improve the lives and well being of individuals with disorders of the brain through identification and measurement of genetic and environmental risk factors, comprehensive evaluation of cognitive and behavioral functions, multi-modal imaging of the living brain, and the design of innovative, disease-specific treatment trials using pharmacological, behavioral, and imaging-based approaches.
Division of Public Mental Health and Population Sciences
The focus of the Division of Public Mental Health and Population Sciences is to enhance the well-being of the general population and the optimal care of distinct and special populations by bridging the fields of psychiatry, epidemiology, ethics, and policy.
Division of Sleep Medicine
The overarching goal of the Division of Sleep Medicine is to advance our understanding of sleep and sleep disorders and translate that knowledge into improved patient care. Because sleep encompasses some of the greatest remaining mysteries in the biological sciences, breakthroughs in this area will constitute significant advances in human health this century. The Division of Sleep Medicine has a robust, multi-disciplinary research program comprised of ten distinct labs with diverse areas of focus.