Scientific Advisory Board

Matthew P. Nemeroff Endowed Chair,​ Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences​, Director, Institute for Early Life Adversity Research,​ Co-Director, Center for Psychedelic Research & Therapy​, President, Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA)​

Charles B. Nemeroff, MD, PhD is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin. He also directs the Institute for Early Life Adversity Research within the department as part of the Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences, and co-directs the Center for Psychedelic Research and Therapy. Prior to joining Dell Medical School, Dr. Nemeroff was chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia. Immediately prior to assuming the Chair at University of Texas, Dr. Nemeroff was Chairman of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and clinical director of the Center on Aging at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami, Florida. He received his medical degree and doctorate degrees in neurology from the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. He has published more than 1,100 research reports and reviews, and grants from the National Institutes of Health currently support his research. But he still finds time to evaluate and treat patients.

Dr. Nemeroff has received a number of research and education awards including the Mrazek Award in Psychiatric Pharmacogenomics, Kempf Award in Psychobiology, the Samuel Hibbs Award, Research Mentoring Award, Judson Marmor Award and the Vestermark Award from the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the Mood Disorders Award, Bowis Award and Dean Award from the ACP and the Julius Axelrod Award for mentoring from the ACNP. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2002. He was also named Alumnus of the Year from the University of North Carolina and from the UNC Medical School. Nemeroff has also served on the Mental Health Advisory Council of National Institute of Mental Health and the Biomedical Research Council for NASA; is co-editor in chief (with Alan F. Schatzberg, MD) of the Textbook of Psychopharmacology, published by the APA Press and now in its Fifth Edition; and is the co-editor in chief of a new journal published by Elsevier, Personalized Medicine in Psychiatry. He is President of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA).

Dr. Nemeroff is a member of the APA Council on Research and Chairs both the APA Research Colloquium for Young Investigators and the APA Work Group on Biomarkers and Novel Treatments. His research is focused on the pathophysiology of mood and anxiety disorders, focusing on the role of child abuse and neglect as a major risk factor.

Robert Freedman Endowed Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine

C. Neill Epperson, MD, is the Robert Freedman Endowed Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. Dr. Epperson is internationally known for her unique lifespan approach to women’s reproductive and behavioral health in both the clinical and research realms. Her work related to early life stress and its impact on risk for affective disorders during periods of hormonal change, in addition to projects relating to cognitive decline during menopause, and sex differences among smokers have been funded by the National Cancer Institute, National Institute of Mental Health, the Office of Research on Women’s Health, and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. ​

Her body of work has led to a greater appreciation of the impact of childhood adversity on physiologic responses during times of hormonal fluctuation as well as gonadal steroid effects on brain and behavior. Dr. Epperson’s research has been funded consistently by the National Institutes of Health for more than two decades. She is a mentor and independent investigator with more than 200 peer-reviewed publications and presentations. ​

Before being recruited to CU Anschutz, Dr. Epperson served as the founder and director of both the Penn Center for Women’s Behavioral Wellness and Penn PROMOTES, Research on Sex and Gender in Health at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where she was a tenured Professor of Psychiatry, with a secondary appointment in Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Epperson received her medical degree at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and completed her postdoctoral and research training in psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, where she rose to the level of associate professor before her recruitment to the University of Pennsylvania.

Department Head, Psychiatry​, Lizzie Gilman Professor​

Anand Kumar, MD, is the Head of the Department of Psychiatry and Lizzie Gilman Professor and at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Kumar received his medical degree from Madras Medical College in Madras, India. He completed his Residency training in Psychiatry at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and subsequently served as a Medical Staff Fellow in the Laboratory of Neurosciences at the National Institute on Aging. ​

Dr. Kumar’s research focuses on late-life depression and mental disorders of the elderly, including Alzheimer’s disease. He has been consistently funded by NIH research grants for over 18 years and is author or co-author of more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters. His papers have been published in prestigious journals including the American Journal of Psychiatry, the Archives of General Psychiatry, and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.​

Dr. Kumar has built a research and clinical powerhouse in Chicago, with UIC Department of Psychiatry currently ranked 24th in the nation and 1st in Illinois for NIMH funding. Combined with outstanding clinical services, superb mentoring, and diverse patient populations, UIC residents have a solid foundation onto which continued acquisition of knowledge can be built.​

Dr. Kumar is renowned in Geriatric Psychiatry as an educator and mentor; his former trainees have been awarded clinical, research, and/or training positions at such esteemed institutions as UCLA, Brown, Emory, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Harvard, and Yale University. Recently, Dr. Kumar was awarded the Jack Weinberg Award for Geriatric Psychiatry from the American Psychiatric Association.

Kenneth T. Norris, Jr. Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences​, Chair, Stanford University School of Medicine - Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (1991 - 2010), Director, Stanford Mood Disorders Center (2009 - Present)​

Dr. Alan F. Schatzberg, MD was the 136th president of the American Psychiatric Association (2009–2010). He also served as the President of the Society of Biological Psychiatry (2006 – 2007 as well as the President of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (1999 – 2000).​

Since 1991, Dr. Schatzberg has served several roles at the Stanford University School of Medicine including as the Kenneth T. Norris, Jr. Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Present), Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (1991 – 2010), and Director of the Stanford Mood Disorders Center (2009 – Present). Prior to Stanford, Dr. Schatzberg served in the United States Air Force before joining the faculty of Harvard Medical School and the staff of McLean Hospital. At McLean Hospital, he held several important positions including Service Chief, Interim Psychiatrist-in-Chief, Co-Director of the Affective Disorders Program (with Dr. J. Cole), and Director of the Depression Research Facility. In 1988, he became Clinical Director of the Massachusetts Mental Health Center and Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.​

Dr. Schatzberg has been an active investigator in the biology and psychopharmacology of depressive disorders. He has authored over 700 publications and abstracts, including Schatzberg’s Manual of Clinical Psychopharmacology, whose ninth edition appeared in 2019 and which is co-authored by Dr. Charles DeBattista. He also co-edited with Dr. Charles B. Nemeroff the Textbook of Psychopharmacology whose fifth edition appeared in 2017. He was Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Psychiatric Research and sits on many other editorial boards as well, including Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, Psychoneuroendocrinology, Biological Psychiatry, and others. In 2003, he was elected into the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. Schatzberg has also led 7+ clinical trials and has received three honorary doctorate degrees. He is one of the foremost psychiatry experts, evaluating and successfully treating thousands of patients. Dr. Schatzberg is a revered mentor to his many psychiatry residents at Stanford and serves as a cornerstone in training the country’s next best psychiatrists.​

Dr. Schatzberg received his MD at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine (1968) and his MS at Harvard University (1988). He received his board certification in Psychiatry in 1975 after completing his fellowship at the Harvard Medical School (1972) and completing residencies at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center (1969-1972) and Southard Clinic (1971-1972), where he served as Chief Resident.

Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences,​ Division Chief of Pediatric and Adolescent Psychiatry​

Barbara J. Coffey, MD, MS is Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She has held the position of Chief of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry since October 1, 2017 and Director of the University of Miami Tourette Association of America (TAA) Center of Excellence since July 1, 2019. Dr. Coffey is an internationally recognized specialist in tics, Tourette’s Disorder and related disorders, such as ADHD and OCD.​

Dr. Coffey was former Chief of the TAA Center of Excellence at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at ISMMS, and Research Psychiatrist at the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research in Orangeburg, New York between 2012-2017.​

Dr. Coffey served on the faculty of Harvard Medical School and was Director of the Tourette’s Clinics at McLean and Massachusetts General Hospitals in Boston between 1992-2001, and Director of the Tics and Tourette’s Program and Associate Professor at New York University School of Medicine between 2001-2012.​

Dr. Coffey is the author of more than 150 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals, abstracts, and book chapters. Co-Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board of the Tourette Association of America, Dr. Coffey’s research has focused on the clinical course, psychiatric comorbidity, phenomenology, and novel treatments of Tourette’s Disorder.​

Franz Alexander Chair in Psychiatry, Professor and Chair, Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences

Dr. Steven Siegel was appointed Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine of USC in July 2016. He is a physician-scientist specializing in the treatment of psychosis. ​

Dr. Siegel came to USC after 20 years at the University of Pennsylvania, where he had roles in research, teaching and clinical care. He received his B.A. in Neuroscience at Colgate University in 1986, and his M.D. and Ph.D. in Neurobiology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 1996. He later completed a MacArthur Foundation Training Fellowship before completing his residency in Psychiatry and a Fellowship in Neuropsychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. ​

In his current role as Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences, Dr. Siegel oversees operations for a department comprised of 200 faculty members, 50 staff members and 100 residents, fellows, and trainees; more than tripling the size of the department in 5 years since he arrived. His department provides a broad range of mental health services to children and adults at LAC+USC Medical Center including Emergency, Inpatient, and Outpatient Services. Additionally, he has expanded and improved the quality of mental health services at Keck Medicine and USC Care, with an emphasis on consultation liaison and specialty services. ​

Over his career at Penn and USC, Dr. Siegel has mentored more than 150 graduate and undergraduate trainees in neuroscience and bioengineering. His research has been supported by federal, state, foundation, and industry sources for more than 25 years. He has published approximately 150 manuscripts as well as multiple book chapters, and one book spanning topics related to drug abuse, basic research in schizophrenia and autism, as well as clinical aspects of schizophrenia.