Joshua A. Gordon, MD, PhD
Joshua A. Gordon, MD, PhD, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, assumed his position on August 15 as Chair of the Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons (VP&S). He also serves as Executive Director of the New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI) and Psychiatrist-in-Chief at New York-Presbyterian Hospital-Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC).
Dr. Gordon’s appointment follows a notable eight-year tenure as the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the lead federal agency for research on mental illnesses, where he was at the forefront of mental health research and policy.
This new chapter marks a significant homecoming for Dr. Gordon, who was a member of the Columbia faculty before being named NIMH director. He joined VP&S in 2004 after completing his medical residency at Columbia University /NYSPI. At Columbia, he led a National Institutes of Health-funded research program in basic neuroscience relevant to mental illness, taught students and residents, and maintained a part-time clinical psychiatry practice.
In September 2016, Dr. Gordon was appointed NIMH director, overseeing an institution with more than 1,000 employees and a $2 billion annual budget. Under his leadership, NIMH made sizable research contributions to mental health practice and services, including new medications and interventions, screening and risk reduction strategies, and the rapid evolution of telemedicine.
Dr. Gordon championed the integration of neuroscience and clinical practice, advocating for precision medicine approaches to tailor treatments to patients based on their unique genetic, biological, and psychological profiles. Among many priorities, he focused on enhancing suicide prevention research and emphasized the importance of addressing disparities in mental health care, advocating for research that considers diverse populations and the social determinants of mental health.
Working with the National Alliance on Mental Illness and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Gordon was instrumental in establishing the Accelerating Medicines Partnership Schizophrenia, a public-private partnership that generates tools to significantly improve the success of early-stage interventions for patients at risk of developing schizophrenia.
Dr. Gordon earned his undergraduate degree in biology from Princeton University and MD/PhD from the University of California, San Francisco. Before joining the Columbia faculty, he completed his residency in psychiatry and a research fellowship with Dr. Rene Hen at Columbia /NYSPI.
His early research focused on understanding how genetic mutations influence neural activity in mouse models of schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, and depression, using advanced imaging techniques to unravel the complex interactions within the brain that contribute to these conditions. In addition to his research, he also served as associate director of the CUIMC/NYSPI adult psychiatry residency program, where he oversaw the neuroscience curriculum and administered research programs for residents, including the Leon Levy Foundation Psychiatric Neuroscience Fellowship Program.
Dr. Gordon's work has been recognized by several prestigious awards, including the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation’s Distinguished Investigator Grant, the A.E. Bennett Research Award from the Society of Biological Psychiatry, and the Joel Elkes Research Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2018.