Dennis S. Charney is an American biological psychiatrist and researcher, one of the world's leading experts in the neurobiology and treatment of mood and anxiety disorders. He is the author of Neurobiology of Mental Illness, The Physician's Guide to Depression and Bipolar Disorders and Molecular Biology for the Clinician, as well as the author of over 500 original papers and chapters.
He is a Professor of Psychiatry, Professor of Neuroscience and Professor of Pharmacology and Systems Therapeutics at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, and currently Dean of the school.
Dean dennis s charney delivers keynote speech at sinainnovations 2012
Biography
Charney graduated from medical school at Penn State in 1977 and completed his residency in Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine. A fellowship in Biological Psychiatry was completed at the Connecticut Medical Health Center.
Charney became the Dean of Research at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 2004, later becoming the Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs, finally succeeding Kenneth L. Davis as Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in 2007.
He has been named among the top 3 most highly cited authors of psychiatric research in the decade ending in 2000 by the Institute for Scientific Information, and listed in every edition of the “Best Doctors in America” since 1992.
He owns patents in dopamine and noradrenergic reuptake inhibitors in treatment of schizophrenia and in intranasal administration of ketamine to treat depression.
He was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2000.
On the morning August 29, 2016, Dennis Charney was shot by Hengjun Chao, as he left Lange’s Deli in his hometown of Chappaqua, New York. Chao was identified as a former Mount Sinai faculty member who had been fired in 2010 for research fraud. Chao remained at the scene and was arrested and charged with attempted murder by New Castle police after the shooting. The trial began on June 5, 2017 and eight days later, on June 13, Chao was found guilty on all charges in Westchester County Court in White Plains. He was sentenced to 28 years in prison.
Affiliations and positions
Principal Investigator, VA National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and the NIMH Yale Mental Health Clinical Research Center.
Member, Food and Drug Administration Psychopharmacologic Drug Advisory Committee
Editorial Committee, Biological Psychiatry, a Publication of the Society of Biological Psychiatry
Member, Scientific Advisory Board of the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD, now known as the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation)
Member, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI)
Former Scientific Director, NIMH Strategic Plan for Mood Disorder Research in 2002.
Awards and honors (partial list)
2017 Ketamine for Treatment-Resistant Depression – Named One of Top 10 on 2017 Health Care Innovations List
2017 American Heart Association Heart of Gold Award
2015 The World's Most Influential Minds
2014 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Pennsylvania State University School of Medicine
2014 The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds
2012 Jacobi MEdallion Award, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
2009 ACNP Julius Axelrod Mentorship Award
2006 The Gold Medal Award from the Society of Biological Psychiatry
2004 CINP-Lilly Neuroscience Clinical Research Award
2004 The American Psychiatric Association Award for Research
2002 The Heinz Lehman Award from the New York State Department of Mental Health
1999 The American College of Psychiatrists Award for Depression Research
1999 The Edward A. Strecker Award from Pennsylvania Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania
2013 Charney DS, Nestler EJ, Buxbaum JD, Sklar Pamela (eds). Neurobiology of Mental Illness, New York, NY, Oxford University Press, Fourth Edition ISBN 0199398461
2011 Southwick SM, Litz BT, Charney DS, Friedman MJ Resilience and Mental Health: Challenges Across the Lifespan, Cambridge University Press ISBN 0521898390
2012 Charney DS, Southwick SM Resilience: The Science of Mastering Life’s Greatest Challenges, Cambridge University Press ISBN 0521195632
2009 Stress-induced and Fear Circuitry Disorders: Refining the Research Agenda for Dsm-v by Gavin Andrews, Dennis S. Charney, Paul J. Sirovatka, Darrel A. Regier, American Psychiatric Publishing, ISBN 0-89042-344-X
2006 The Physician's Guide to Depression & Bipolar Disorders by Dennis S. Charney, Lydia Lewis, McGraw-Hill, ISBN 0-07-144175-1 (0-07-144175-1)
2003 Molecular Biology for the Clinician, by Dennis S. Charney, American Psychiatric Press, ISBN 978-1-58562-113-2
2002 Pediatric Psychoparmacology: Principles and Practice by James F. Leckman, Dennis S. Charney, Lawrence Scahill, Andres Martin, Oxford Univ Pr, ISBN 0-19-514173-3 (0-19-514173-3)
2002 Neuropsychopharmacology: The Fifth Generation of Progress by American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and Joseph T. Coyle and Charles Nemeroff and Dennis Charney and Kenneth L. Davis, Hardcover, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, ISBN 0-7817-2837-1 (0-7817-2837-1)
1999 Neurobiology of Mental Illness by Eric J. Nestler, Dennis S. Charney, Oxford Press, ISBN 0-19-518980-9 (0-19-518980-9)
1995 Neurobiological and Clinical Consequences of Stress: From Normal Adaptation to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder by Matthew J. Friedman, Dennis S. Charney, Ariel Y. Deutch, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, ISBN 0-7817-0177-5 (0-7817-0177-5)
Publications
Trauma and Resilience in the Third Year of Medical School: A Prospective Study of the Effects of Clinical Rotations on Student Well-being. Haglund M, aan het Rot M, Cooper N, Muller D, Southwick SM, Charney DS. Academic Medicine, February 2009; 84(2):258-68. doi:10.1097/ACM.0b013e31819381b1 PMID 19174682
Enduring mental health morbidity and social function impairment in world trade center rescue, recovery, and cleanup workers: the psychological dimension of an environmental health disaster. Stellman JM, Smith RP, Katz CL, Sharma V, Charney DS, Herbert R, Moline J, Luft BJ, Markowitz S, Udasin I, Harrison D, Baron S, Landrigan PJ, Levin SM, Southwick S. Environ Health Perspect, 2008 doi:10.1289/ehp.11164 PMID 18795171
Novel drugs and therapeutic targets for severe mood disorders. Mathew SJ, Manji HK, Charney DS. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2008 Aug;33(9):2080. Epub 2008 Jun 4. PMID 18172433
Integration of in vivo and in vitro approaches to characterize the toxicity of Antalarmin, a corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor antagonist. Horn TL, Harder JB, Johnson WD, Curry PT, Parchment RE, Morrissey RL, Mellick PW, Calis KA, Gold PW, Rice KC, Contoreggi C, Charney DS, Cizza G, Glaze ER, Tomaszewski JE, McCormick DL. Toxicology. 2008 Jun 3;248(1):8-17. Epub 2008 Mar 13. doi:10.1016/j.tox.2008.03.002 PMID 18423834
Recent advances in the neurobiology of anxiety disorders: implications for novel therapeutics. Mathew SJ, Price RB, Charney DS. Am J Med Genet C Semin Med Genet. 2008 May 15;148(2):89-98. doi:10.1002/ajmg.c.30172 PMID 18412102
Response to Emotional Expressions in Generalized Social Phobia and Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Evidence for Separate Disorders. Blair K, Shaywitz J, Smith BW, Rhodes R, Geraci M, Jones M, McCaffrey D, Vythilingam M, Finger E, Mondillo K, Jacobs M, Charney DS, Blair RJ, Drevets WC, Pine DS. American Journal of Psychiatry. 2008 May 15. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.07071060 PMID 18483136
Hippocampal N-acetylaspartate concentration and response to riluzole in generalized anxiety disorder. Mathew SJ, Price RB, Mao X, Smith EL, Coplan JD, Charney DS, Shungu DC. Biological Psychiatry. 2008 May 1;63(9):891-8. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.09.012 PMID 18028881
Association between level of emotional intelligence and severity of anxiety in generalized social phobia. Jacobs M, Snow J, Geraci M, Vythilingam M, Blair RJ, Charney DS, Pine DS, Blair KS. Journal of Anxiety Disorder. 2008 Mar 13. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2008.03.003 PMID 18439799
Mental health of workers and volunteers responding to events of 9/11: review of the literature. Bills CB, Levy NA, Sharma V, Charney DS, Herbert R, Moline J, Katz CL. doi:10.1002/msj.20026 PMID 18500712
Plasma NPY concentrations during tryptophan and sham depletion in medication-free patients with remitted depression. Czermak C, Hauger R, Drevets WC, Luckenbaugh DA, Geraci M, Charney DS, Neumeister A. Journal of Affective Disorder. 2008 Feb 15. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2008.01.014 PMID 18281099
Recognition of facial emotions among maltreated children with high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder. Masten CL, Guyer AE, Hodgdon HB, McClure EB, Charney DS, Ernst M, Kaufman J, Pine DS, Monk CS. Child Abuse Negl. 2008 Jan;32(1):139-53. Epub 2007 Dec 21. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2007.09.006 PMID 18155144
Elevated serotonin transporter binding in major depressive disorder assessed using positron emission tomography and [11C]DASB; comparison with bipolar disorder. Cannon DM, Ichise M, Rollis D, Klaver JM, Gandhi SK, Charney DS, Manji HK, Drevets WC. Biological Psychiatry. 2007 Oct 15;62(8):870-7. Epub 2007 Aug 2. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.03.016 PMID 17678634
Sustained low-grade pro-inflammatory state in unmedicated, remitted women with major depressive disorder as evidenced by elevated serum levels of the acute phase proteins C-reactive protein and serum amyloid A. Kling MA, Alesci S, Csako G, Costello R, Luckenbaugh DA, Bonne O, Duncko R, Drevets WC, Manji HK, Charney DS, Gold PW, Neumeister A. Biological Psychiatry. 2007 Aug 15;62(4):309-13. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.09.033 PMID 17178112
Diagnosing bipolar disorder in trauma exposed primary care patients. Graves RE, Alim TN, Aigbogun N, Chrishon K, Mellman TA, Charney DS, Lawson WB. Bipolar Disorder. 2007 Jun;9(4):318-23. doi:10.1111/j.1399-5618.2007.00449.x PMID 17547578
Impact of publicity concerning pediatric suicidality data on physician practice patterns in the United States. Nemeroff CB, Kalali A, Keller MB, Charney DS, Lenderts SE, Cascade EF, Stephenson H, Schatzberg AF. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2007 Apr;64(4):466-72. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.64.4.466 PMID 17404123
Abnormal attention modulation of fear circuit function in pediatric generalized anxiety disorder. McClure EB, Monk CS, Nelson EE, Parrish JM, Adler A, Blair RJ, Fromm S, Charney DS, Leibenluft E, Ernst M, Pine DS. Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2007 Jan;64(1):97-106. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.64.1.97 PMID 17199059
