Safe Care CommitmentGet the latest news on COVID-19, the vaccine and care at Mass General.Learn more
Learn about participating in psychiatry research and explore our open studies.
The integration of patient care and clinical research has been a hallmark of the Department of Psychiatry for more than 30 years.
Over the years, there has been an enormous expansion in the overall volume of research in the department and associated research funding—with more than $50 million in research programs last year alone—as well as a gradual shift in funding from pharmaceutical sponsorship to federal and foundation funding. The department has cultivated highly productive clinical and research programs focused on each of the major domains of mental health and psychopathology:
Each program is staffed by expert clinical researchers and clinicians working together to care for patients and conduct cutting-edge clinical research. In addition, our neuroscience, neuroimaging and genetic research programs include clinical and translational researchers whose work is informed and motivated by the unmet needs of our patient populations.
This research is making it possible to pinpoint affected areas of the brain; understand inherited risk factors and the role of environmental stress; develop more effective psychotherapies, medications and neurotherapeutic treatments; and ultimately to prevent these illnesses from occurring by intervening early.
Our neuroscience, neuroimaging and genetic research programs include clinical and translational researchers whose work is informed and motivated by the unmet needs of our patient populations. Our programs include:
The model of integrating clinical work and research is evident even in the names of the department’s major programs, such as the “Depression Clinical and Research Program,” the “Bipolar Clinic and Research Program,” and the “Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Clinic and Research Unit.” Our programs include:
Clinical researchers in our department have had leadership roles in landmark national studies of the course, genetics and treatment of major psychiatric disorders. This includes a series of federally funded treatment studies begun in the late 1990s and a wide variety of other national programs.
The breadth and depth of our psychiatric research continues to grow despite the challenges of an uncertain funding environment. From its roots as a department known for its contributions in consultation-liaison psychiatry and psychopharmacology with little external funding, the Department of Psychiatry now has 60 active research programs and laboratories. In particular, the department has established highly productive research programs in three cross-cutting domains:
U.S. News & World Report ranks Mass General psychiatry among the top in the nation.
Advances in Motion highlights the latest breakthroughs, research and clinical trials from Mass General.
We provide care for patients of any age throughout the lifespan.
For 80 years, Mass General's Psychiatry Department has provided the highest quality patient care through pioneering research.
Drs. Patrice Nicholas and Suellen Breakey offer an overview of how extreme heat and weather, poor air quality, hurricanes, flooding, rising sea levels, and post-disaster health challenges affect our mental health.
Olivia Okereke, MD, MS, inaugural director of the newly established Massachusetts General Hospital Department of Psychiatry’s Center for Racial Equity and Justice, is leading anti-racism efforts in the department, the psychiatry field, psychiatric research and more.
Stresses connected to the pandemic—lockdowns and remote learning—along with the psychological distress related to racism have combined to create unprecedented rates of anxiety and depression among our youth.
Mass General researchers explore how firearm purchases were impacted by the pandemic, and what it might mean for suicide in the United States.
Carl Marci, MD, psychiatrist in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, has spent much of his career studying the neurobiology of empathy and how people connect with objects on a deep, emotional level.
The brain of a woman who should have developed a fatal inherited form of Alzheimer's disease in her 40s but remained healthy into her 70s is offering important clues about the disease.
To find out more about our research, clinical services, schedule an appointment or refer a patient, contact the Department of Psychiatry.
