Biopsych Fellowship

About the Fellowship

Applicants may be in the process of finishing their doctoral degree when they apply to the program, but must complete all requirements for their degree before joining the Fellowship.

Most of the successful applicants to our program hold a PhD degree, either as their sole advanced degree, or from an MD-PhD combined-degree program. However, we also encourage applications from MD's who do not hold a PhD, but who have a strong commitment to training in research directed toward establishing an academic career.

Fellows holding an MD degree typically have completed their clinical training in psychiatry and begin the program in their PGY-V year. The Fellowship strongly encourages applicants from minorities under-represented in academic medicine.

Research Opportunities

Within our Department, the programs of investigation include basic and clinical neuroscience. Basic studies in animal models include programs in neuropharmacology, ion channel physiology, behavioral genetics, regulation of neural gene expression, and brain development.

Studies in the etiology of mental illness include programs in the genetics of bipolar disorder, new methods of understanding psychiatric epidemiology genetic transmission in diverse populations, efforts at understanding the physiological bases of mood disorders, characterization of schizophrenia in terms of brain abnormalities and neurophysiological changes, and studies of the neurobiology of sleep. Several investigators in the Department approach these problems through modern neuroimaging methods including fMRI and SPECT.

Clinical psychiatry research includes the development of novel psycho- pharmacological treatments for the major psychiatric disorders, studies of psychosis and psychiatric medications in the aging, neuroendocrine effects on mood disorders, and a program in psychosomatic medicine examining the mechanisms by which behavioral factors influence blood pressure and risk of hypertension.

Compensation and Funding

The minimum salary is NIH postdoctoral scale, but supplementation is frequently available and is negotiated with individual research mentors.