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Michael J. McCarthy

Michael J. McCarthy

Credentials: 

  • MD

  • PhD.

Current Position(s): 

  • Staff Psychiatrist, Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS)

  • Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego (UCSD)

Personal Statement: 

Dr. McCarthy is a physician-scientist with research interests in neurobiology of bipolar disorder (BD) and other serious mental illnesses. His research uses state of the art cellular-molecular biology to study the circadian clock and identify chronobiological factors that influence disease susceptibility, and treatment response and the metabolic effects of antipsychotic drugs. In recent years, Dr. McCarthy has developed a platform to study circadian rhythms in cellular models of BD, and has been involved with pioneering efforts applying stem-cell technology to create neuronal models of BD using human patient donors. Dr. McCarthy's work in the past several years has also contributed meaningfully to the application of principles of personalized medicine to the treatment of BD and the use of lithium. He is a Staff Psychiatrist in the VA Mood Disorders Clinic and the principal investigator (PI) on a VA Merit Award. Dr. McCarthy holds an academic appointment as an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at UCSD and is a member of the UCSD Center for Circadian Biology and Neuroscience Graduate Program.

Education:

  • University of New Mexico, B.S., Biochemistry/Psych   1996

  • The Ohio State University, Ph.D., Neuroscience   2003

  • The Ohio State University, M.D., Medicine   2005

  • UCSD, Residency, Psychiatry   2009

  • UCSD, Fellowship, Psychiatric Genetics   2011

Awards and Honors: 

  • 2009    APA Research Colloquium for Junior Investigators Travel Award

  • 2009    UCSD Department of Psychiatry Chairman’s Research Award

  • 2010    Career Development Institute in Bipolar Disorder Award

  • 2010    Featured Speaker, UCSD Dept of Psychiatry Junior Faculty Research Symposium

  • 2012    American College of Neuropsychopharmacology Travel Award

  • 2015    International Bipolar Foundation Catalyst Research Award

  • 2018    Associate Member, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology

Professional History:

  • 2010-Current    Board Certification in Psychiatry and Neurology ABPN

  • 2010-Current    Field Editor In Neurobiology, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica

  • 2011-Current    Executive Committee Member UCSD Center for Chronobiology

  • 2012-Current    Member Consortium on Lithium Pharmacogenetics (ConLiGen)

  • 2017-Current    Editorial Board Molecular Neuropsychiatry

  • 2018-Current    Editorial Board Depression and Anxiety

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National/Global Website: National Center for Biotechnology Information

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