Dr. Jonathan Javitch

Biography

Jonathan Javitch obtained a B.S. and M.S. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University. He completed a joint M.D.-Ph.D. program at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he demonstrated that a key step in the neurotoxicity of MPTP is the uptake of its metabolite MPP+ by dopamine transporters. After graduating from Hopkins, Dr. Javitch completed a medical internship and psychiatric residency at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and New York State Psychiatric Institute. He conducted postdoctoral work on the structure of dopamine receptors under Dr. Arthur Karlin at Columbia University. Currently, Dr. Javitch is the Lieber Professor of Experimental Therapeutics in Psychiatry and a Professor of Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the Center for Molecular Recognition and Physiology in Cellular Biophysics at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He also serves as the Director of the Lieber Center for Schizophrenia Research and Treatment and is the Chief of the Division of Molecular Therapeutics at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. His research primarily focuses on understanding the structural bases of agonist and antagonist binding specificity of dopamine D2-like receptors, which are critical targets for antipsychotic drugs used in the treatment of schizophrenia. Furthermore, his laboratory investigates the structural bases of dopamine transporter inhibition by drugs such as cocaine and amphetamine, alongside the regulation and trafficking of dopamine transporters in the context of addiction and sensitization phenomena.

Research Interests