NIH Names Dr. Joshua Gordon Director of the NIMH

Dear Friends of NIMH, 

It gives me great pleasure to share with you the news that NIH Director Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., has announced the selection of Joshua A. Gordon, M.D., Ph.D., as Director of the National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Gordon is expected to join NIH in September. 

Dr. Gordon will join NIH from New York City, where he serves as Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and Research Psychiatrist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. In addition to his research, Dr. Gordon is an associate director of the Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute Adult Psychiatry Residency Program, where he directs the neuroscience curriculum and administers the research programs for residents. 

Dr. Gordon joined the Columbia faculty in 2004, where his research focused on the analysis of neural activity in mice carrying mutations of relevance to psychiatric disease. Funded by NIMH and other research organizations, Dr. Gordon's work has direct relevance to schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, and depression. Dr. Gordon also maintains a general psychiatric practice, caring for patients who suffer from the illnesses he studies in his lab. 

Dr. Gordon pursued a combined M.D./Ph.D. degree at the University of California, San Francisco. Medical school coursework in psychiatry and neuroscience convinced him that the greatest need, and greatest promise, for biomedical science was in these areas. Upon completion of the dual degree program at UCSF, Dr. Gordon went to Columbia University for his Psychiatry residency and research fellowship. 

Dr. Gordon has been a member of the Hope for Depression Research Foundation’s Depression Task Force since 2012, where he works collaboratively with this international group to define the neurobiology underlying depression and to identify novel treatment targets. 

Dr. Gordon’s work has been recognized by several prestigious awards, including the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation – NARSAD Young Investigator Award, Rising Star Award from the International Mental Health Research Organization, A.E. Bennett Research Award from the Society of Biological Psychiatry, and Daniel H. Efron Research Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. 

Please join me in extending congratulations and a warm welcome to Dr. Gordon when he joins NIMH at the end of the summer.

Best,

Bruce 

Bruce Cuthbert, Ph. D.
Acting Director
National Institute of Mental Health
6001 Executive Blvd., Room 6217
Bethesda, MD 20892-9669