UCSF Alum Joshua Gordon Named Director of NIMH

UC San Francisco alumnus Joshua A. Gordon, MD, PhD, has been selected as the next director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

Gordon is a graduate of the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) program at UCSF, where he pioneered methods to study brain plasticity in the mouse visual system in the lab of Michael Stryker, PhD.

“Josh is a visionary psychiatrist and neuroscientist with deep experience in mental health research and practice,” said National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, in a press release announcing the selection. “He is exceptionally well qualified to lead the NIMH research agenda to improve mental health and treatment for mental illness.”

Gordon graduated from the Neuroscience program in 1995, and finished his MD in 1997. During his PhD thesis, Gordon developed novel methods for studying developmental plasticity in the visual cortex of mice.

Upon completion of the dual degree program at UCSF, Gordon went to Columbia University for his psychiatry residency and research fellowship and joined the faculty there in 2004. He currently serves as associate professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center, research psychiatrist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute, and associate director of the Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute Adult Psychiatry Residency Program.

Gordon is expected to start the new role in September. As the director of NIMH, he will oversee the lead federal agency for research on mental illness. The mission of the NIMH is to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery and cure.

Read the full press release about Gordon’s announcement on the NIMH website.