Dennis S. Charney

Charney is a grandfather and the father of several children. In 2014, his son Alex Charney became a practicing psychiatric resident at The Mount Sinai Hospital.[2]

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, then succeeding Kenneth L. Davis as Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in 2007.[3]

With Yale colleague John Krystal, Charney demonstrated that Ketamine is effective for treating depression. Ketamine’s use as a rapidly-acting anti-depressant is considered a breakthroughs treatment.[4][5]

He was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2000.[6]

Charney previously led the Mood and Anxiety Research Program at the National Institute of Mental Health, and earlier was on the faculty in the department of psychiatry at Yale Medical School.[4]

He owns patents in dopamine and noradrenergic reuptake inhibitors in treatment of schizophrenia[7] and in intranasal administration of ketamine to treat depression.[8] In total, as of 2022, he holds a total of five issued patents and six pending.[9]

• Principal Investigator, VA National Center for Post-traumatic 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[10]
• Former Chair, Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Institute of Mental Health
• Former Chair, Scientific Advisory Board of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA)
• Former Chair, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) Scientific Advisory Board
• Past President, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology[11]
• 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.[12]

Partial list:

• 2017 Ketamine for Treatment-Resistant Depression – Named One of Top 10 on 2017 Health Care Innovations List [13]
• 2017 American Heart Association Heart of Gold Award [14][15]
• 2015 The World's Most Influential Minds[16]
• 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Pennsylvania State University School of Medicine [17]
• 2014 The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds[18]
• 2012 Jacobi MEdallion Award, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai[19]
• 2009 ACNP Julius Axelrod Mentorship Award [20]
• 2006 The Gold Medal Award from the Society of Biological Psychiatry[21]
• 2004 CINP-Lilly Neuroscience Clinical Research Award
• 2004 The American Psychiatric Association Award for Research [22]
• 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[23]
• 1999 The Edward J. Sacher Award from Columbia University
• 1999 The Gerald L. Klerman Lifetime Achievement Award from the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA)[24]
• 1994-1995 Anna Monika Foundation Award for Research in Affective Disorders [25]
• 1992 Daniel H. Efron Research Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology[26]
• 2014-2015 Distinguished Alumni Award, Pennsylvania State University[4]

On the morning August 29, 2016, Charney was shot and wounded by Hengjun Chao, as Charney left Lange’s Deli in Charney's hometown of Chappaqua, New York. Chao was a former Mount Sinai medical researcher who had been fired by Charney in 2010 for research fraud.[27][28][29] Chao's trial began on June 5, 2017, and eight days later Chao was convicted of attempted second degree murder and two other charges in Westchester County Court in White Plains. He was sentenced to 28 years in prison.[30][31][32][33][34]

In April 2019, a lawsuit was filed against Dr. Charney, several other defendants, and the Mount Sinai Health System for sex and age discrimination at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at the Icahn School of Medicine. The suit was filed by eight current and former employees, all but one women.[35] In August 2019, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint alleging further allegations.[36][35]

• 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)

• Haglund, ME; Rot, M; Cooper, NS; et al. (February 2009). "Resilience in the third year of medical school: a prospective study of the associations between stressful events occurring during clinical rotations and student well-being". Acad Med. 84 (2): 258–68. doi:10.1097/ACM.0b013e31819381b1. PMID 19174682.
• Stellman, JM; Smith, RP; Katz, CL; et al. (September 2008). "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". Environ. Health Perspect. 116 (9): 1248–53. doi:10.1289/ehp.11164. PMC 2535630. PMID 18795171.
• Mathew, SJ; Manji, HK; Charney, DS (2008). "Novel drugs and therapeutic targets for severe mood disorders". Neuropsychopharmacology. 33 (9): 2080–92. doi:10.1038/sj.npp.1301652. PMID 18172433.
• Horn, TL; Harder, JB; Johnson, WD; et al. (June 2008). "Integration of in vivo and in vitro approaches to characterize the toxicity of Antalarmin, a corticotropin-releasing hormone receptor antagonist". Toxicology. 248 (1): 8–17. doi:10.1016/j.tox.2008.03.002. PMC 2424198. PMID 18423834.
• Mathew, SJ; Price, RB; Charney, DS (May 2008). "Recent advances in the neurobiology of anxiety disorders: implications for novel therapeutics". Am J Med Genet C Semin Med Genet. 148C (2): 89–98. doi:10.1002/ajmg.c.30172. PMID 18412102. S2CID 23912900.
• Blair, K; Shaywitz, J; Smith, BW; et al. (September 2008). "Response to emotional expressions in generalized social phobia and generalized anxiety disorder: evidence for separate disorders". Am J Psychiatry. 165 (9): 1193–202. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2008.07071060. PMC 2855133. PMID 18483136.
• Mathew, SJ; Price, RB; Mao, X; et al. (May 2008). "Hippocampal N-acetylaspartate concentration and response to riluzole in generalized anxiety disorder". Biol. Psychiatry. 63 (9): 891–8. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.09.012. PMC 2385784. PMID 18028881.
• Jacobs, M; Snow, J; Geraci, M; et al. (December 2008). "Association between level of emotional intelligence and severity of anxiety in generalized social phobia". J Anxiety Disord. 22 (8): 1487–95. doi:10.1016/j.janxdis.2008.03.003. PMC 2606035. PMID 18439799.
• Bills, CB; Levy, NA; Sharma, V; et al. (2008). "Mental health of workers and volunteers responding to events of 9/11: review of the literature". Mt. Sinai J. Med. 75 (2): 115–27. doi:10.1002/msj.20026. PMID 18500712.
• Czermak, C; Hauger, R; Drevets, WC; et al. (October 2008). "Plasma NPY concentrations during tryptophan and sham depletion in medication-free patients with remitted depression". J Affect Disord. 110 (3): 277–81. doi:10.1016/j.jad.2008.01.014. PMC 3102760. PMID 18281099.
• Masten, CL; Guyer, AE; Hodgdon, HB; et al. (January 2008). "Recognition of facial emotions among maltreated children with high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder". Child Abuse Negl. 32 (1): 139–53. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2007.09.006. PMC 2268025. PMID 18155144.
• Cannon, DM; Ichise, M; Rollis, D; et al. (October 2007). "Elevated serotonin transporter binding in major depressive disorder assessed using positron emission tomography and [11C]DASB; comparison with bipolar disorder". Biol. Psychiatry. 62 (8): 870–7. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2007.03.016. PMID 17678634. S2CID 19689483.
• Kling, MA; Alesci, S; Csako, G; et al. (August 2007). "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". Biol. Psychiatry. 62 (4): 309–13. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2006.09.033. PMC 2546515. PMID 17178112.
• Graves, RE; Alim, TN; Aigbogun, N; et al. (June 2007). "Diagnosing bipolar disorder in trauma exposed primary care patients". Bipolar Disord. 9 (4): 318–23. doi:10.1111/j.1399-5618.2007.00449.x. PMID 17547578.
• Nemeroff, CB; Kalali, A; Keller, MB; et al. (April 2007). "Impact of publicity concerning pediatric suicidality data on physician practice patterns in the United States". Arch. Gen. Psychiatry. 64 (4): 466–72. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.64.4.466. PMID 17404123.
• McClure, EB; Monk, CS; Nelson, EE; et al. (January 2007). "Abnormal attention modulation of fear circuit function in pediatric generalized anxiety disorder". Arch. Gen. Psychiatry. 64 (1): 97–106. doi:10.1001/archpsyc.64.1.97. PMID 17199059.