MEDIUM BIO

David Pickar, M.D., is a psychiatrist, neuroscientist, researcher, and longtime advocate for people living with serious mental illness. Over a career spanning nearly five decades, he has witnessed—and helped shape—the transformation of psychiatry from a discipline dominated by psychoanalytic theory to one increasingly grounded in neuroscience, psychopharmacology, and modern medicine.

After receiving his medical degree and completing his psychiatry residency at Yale University School of Medicine, Dr. Pickar joined the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Mental Health. He spent more than 20 years at NIMH as a clinician-scientist and research leader, ultimately serving as Chief of the Experimental Therapeutics Branch. His work focused on schizophrenia, psychosis, and the development of more effective psychiatric treatments, including pharmacologic strategies that remain in clinical development.

Dr. Pickar has authored or co-authored more than 400 scientific publications. He is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a Fellow Emeritus of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and an Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

He continues to practice psychiatry in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with an emphasis on caring for people with serious mental illness. Throughout his career, he has remained committed to advancing both the science of psychiatry and the humane treatment of individuals and families affected by severe psychiatric disorders.