Site Directors

The Pritzker Consortium is led by the Site Directors, who are senior scientists at each of the five sites. The Site Directors work together to frame the overall scientific program of the Consortium, define specific experimental priorities and approaches, and oversee the translation of the findings for clinical applications.

Huda Akil, Ph.D. is the Co-Site Director at the University of Michigan, where she is the Co-Director of the Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute and the Gardner C. Quarton Distinguished Professor of Neurosciences and Psychiatry. She received her B.S. in Psychology from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon and her Ph.D. in Biopsychology from the University of California, Los Angeles. She performed her postdoctoral work at Stanford University. She has served as the President of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and the Society for Neuroscience. She has received numerous awards, including the Pasarow Foundation Award, the Patricia Goldman-Rakic Prize for Cognitive Neuroscience (NARSAD) and the Mike Salpeter Lifetime Achievement Award (SFN). She has been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences.

Huda Akil’s profile at the Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute »
Huda Akil at Wikipedia »

Jack D. Barchas, M.D. is the Co-Site Director at Cornell University. He is the Barklie McKee Henry Professor and Chair of Psychiatry at its Weill Medical College and Psychiatrist-in-Chief of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center. He was formerly the Nancy Friend Pritzker Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Pritzker Laboratory at Stanford, and later became Dean for Neuroscience and then also Dean for Research Development at UCLA. He has been Director of the Pritzker Network; editor of the Archives of General Psychiatry; chair of the board of the New York Academy of Medicine; and chair of the board of the American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education. He currently chairs the board of the Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Disorders and is a member of the board of the American Psychiatric Foundation. He has received a number of honors for his research. A member of the Institute of Medicine he was the first chair of the combined Psychiatry-Neurology Section, chaired the IOM’s Board on Biobehavioral Health and Mental Disorders for twelve years, and has received the Sarnat International Prize in Mental Health from the IOM as well as the McDermott Medal, its highest award for service to the institution.

Jack Barchas’ profile at Weill Cornell Medical College »
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William E. Bunney, M.D. is the Site Director at the University of California, Irvine, where he is the Della Martin Chair, Psychiatry and Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. He received his M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and completed his residency in Psychiatry at Yale University. Dr. Bunney has been elected President of four national and international societies, including the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) and Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum (CINP). He was also appointed as Director of the Federal Treatment, Education, and Research Endeavor for Narcotic Addiction and Drug Abuse at the National Institute of Mental Health. He has served on numerous advisory and scientific boards, including the World Health Organization Expert Panel on Mental Health. Dr. Bunney has been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, has served as Executive Vice President for the National Academies Corporation, and was designated Lifetime National Associate of the National Academies.

William E. Bunney’s profile at UC Irvine »
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Francis Lee, M.D., Ph.D. is the Co-Site Director at Cornell University. He is the Mortimer D. Sackler Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, and attending psychiatrist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. He received his MD and PhD from the University of Michigan, and psychiatry training at Weill Cornell and completed postdoctoral training, at New York University and the University of California, San Francisco. He has focused his research program on leveraging molecular neuroscience tools to improve our understanding of psychiatric disorders. His current research has centered on plasticity factors –neurotrophic growth factors and endocannabinoids – which have profound effects on neuronal function within neural circuits. He and his collaborators at the Sackler Institute for Developmental Psychobiology have established vertically integrated research strategies to perform parallel genetic mouse model studies with human behavioral and functional imaging studies to identify how individual variation contribute to risk and resilience for mental illness and how clinical treatments can be optimized for individuals and targeted to the biological states of the developing brain.

Francis Lee’s profile at Weill Cornell Medical College »

Richard M. Myers, Ph.D. is the President, Director and Investigator at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology in Huntsville, AL. He received his B.S. in Biochemistry from the University of Alabama Tuscaloosa and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. He performed his postdoctoral work at Harvard University. He previously held the positions Chair of the Department of Genetics at Stanford University and Director of the Stanford Human Genome Center. His research is focused on human genetics and genomics. He has received several awards, including the Pritzker Award, and he has served on numerous advisory panels and editorial boards.

Richard M. Myers’ profile at the HudsonAlpha Institute »
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Alan Schatzberg, M.D. is the Site Director at Stanford University. He received his M.D. from New York University. He did his residency in psychiatry at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center. After serving in the US Air Force, he joined the staff at McLean Hospital and the Faculty of Harvard Medical School. He then moved to Stanford to become the Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He is Past President of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the Society of Biological Psychiatry and the American Psychiatric Association. He has received numerous awards, including the Research Award from the American Psychiatric Association, the Falcone Award from NARSAD, the Distinguished Service in Psychiatry Award from the American College of Psychiatrists, the 2017 ACNP Julius Axelrod Mentorship Award, the 2018 Judd Marmor Award for Biopsychosocial Research from the American Psychiatric Association, and the Outstanding Achievement Award from the American Psychiatric Association. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.

Alan Schatzberg’s profile at Stanford Medicine »
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Stanley J. Watson, Jr., M.D., Ph.D. is the Co-Site Director at the University of Michigan, where he is Co-Director of the Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute and the Ralph Waldo Gerard Professor of Neuroscience and Psychiatry. He received his B.S. in Psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi, his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in Clinical Psychology and his M.D. from Tulane Medical School. He completed his residency in Psychiatry at Stanford University. Board certified in Psychiatry and Neurology, he has served on numerous editorial boards and national advisory boards, and chaired major scientific program committees. He has received numerous honors and awards, including the Pasarow Foundation Award. He is an original member of the Highly Cited Researchers Database (ISI-Thomson Scientific), and is ranked as one of the most highly cited neuroscientists in the world. He has been elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Stanley J. Watson, Jr.’s profile at the Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute »
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