Professor Dr. Christopher Pittenger

Biography

Chris Pittenger earned his MD and Ph.D. degrees from Columbia University, with graduate work under Nobel Prize recipient Eric Kandel. He returned to Yale University, his undergraduate alma mater, for residency and research training in psychiatry in 2003. He joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2007 and currently holds the position of Elizabeth Mears House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry. Pittenger's research focuses on understanding brain dysregulation and its impact on cognition, emotion, and behavior, particularly in relation to obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette syndrome, as well as the underlying cortico-basal ganglia circuitry. He co-founded the Yale Program in Psychedelic Science to explore how substances like psilocybin and LSD can inform our understanding of brain-behavior relationships and contribute to new treatment avenues for neuropsychiatric disorders. As a founding Director of the Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health, his interdisciplinary approach seeks to develop new therapeutics for individuals suffering from mental health disorders. Dr. Pittenger has received numerous prestigious awards and grants from organizations including the National Institute of Mental Health and the American Psychiatric Association, highlighting his significant contributions to the field of psychiatry and neuroscience.

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Awards