The Penn State Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health has research spanning from basic science (genetic, molecular, cellular, neural circuitry), clinical translational (biomarkers of clinical state and treatment response), epidemiology to health services research (clinical assessment, implementation and dissemination of treatments). Investigators have received support from local foundations such as the Children’s Miracle Network, national foundations such as the Klarman Family Foundation and the Stanley Medical Research Institute, as well as from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and federal institutions such as the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the National Institutes of Health. Junior investigators have been supported through career-development awards and senior investigators through independent awards. Investigators have strong collaborations within Penn State College of Medicine, with Penn State University Park and with researchers from all over the world. Faculty are regularly invited to present work nationally and internationally, are editors of major journals, contribute to NIH review panels and advise the Commonwealth of PA on multiple issues including mental health policy. Combined, the research output of the department includes 88,190 citations, an h-index of 130 for 1691 articles (PURE, accessed on 9/24/19), and a history of 23 federally-funded projects.
Learn More About Psychiatry and Behavioral Health
Current topics of interest in research in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health include:
- Addiction: Venkatesh Basappa Krishnamurthy, MD; Nicola Gray, MD; Andrea Hobkirk, PhD; Sarah Kawasaki, MD; William Milchak, SW
- Attention and Behavior Disorders: Dara Babinski, PhD; Raman Baweja, MD; Usman Hameed, MD; Daniel Waschbusch, PhD; Jim Waxmonsky, MD
- Autism Spectrum Disorders: Sierra Brown, PhD; Mike Murray, MD; Amanda Pearl, PhD
- Behavioral Neuroscience: Venkatesh Basappa Krishnamurthy, MD; Scott Bunce, PhD; Andrea Hobkirk, PhD; Fauzia Mahr, MD; Dahlia Mukherjee, PhD
- Clinical Assessment Research: Susan Calhoun, PhD; Ahmad Hameed, MD; Susan Mayes, PhD; Ehsan Syed, MD
- Health Services, Behavioral Health Integration and Quality Improvement Research: Errol Aksu, MD; Kathleen Dougherty, MD; Yu-Fei Duan, MD, PhD; Andrew Francis, MD, PhD; Julie Graziane, MD; Michael Hayes, PhD; Aditya Joshi, MD; Elisabeth Kunkel, MD; Susan Mayes, PhD; William Milchak, SW; Janet Passley-Clarke, DNP, MS, CRNP, PMH-BC; Aum Pathare, MD; Lidija Petrovic-Dovat, MD; PCARES team (Ed Bixler, PhD; Robert Gonzalez, MD; Dahlia Mukherjee, PhD; Amanda Pearl, PhD; Erika Saunders, MD; Daniel Waschbusch, PhD)
- Molecular Neuropharmacology: John Ellis, PhD
- Mood Disorders: Venkatesh Basappa Krishnamurthy, MD; Robert Gonzalez, MD; Suzanne Gonzalez, PhD; Dahlia Mukherjee, PhD; Erika Saunders, MD
- Neuronal Modeling: Alfredo Bellon, MD, PhD
- Program Development, Education and Training Research: Usman Hameed, MD; Richard Mattison, MD; Daisy Shirk, DO
- Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) Research: Michael Hayes, PhD; Andrea Hobkirk, PhD; Amanda Pearl, PhD
- Sleep Research: Venkatesh Basappa Krishnamurthy, MD; Edward O. Bixler, PhD (Emeritus); Susan Calhoun, PhD; Jidong Fang, PhD; Julio Fernandez-Mendoza, PhD; Alexandros N. Vgontzas, MD
Daniel Waschbusch, PhD, is Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health.
Contact Us
For more information about psychiatry research projects, email pbhresearch@pennstatehealth.psu.edu.