About the Editors

Lisa M Monteggia PhD, Vanderbilt Brain Institute, Nashville, TN​, USA
Lisa Monteggia is the Barlow Family Director of the Vanderbilt Brain Institute and Professor in the Department of Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University. Her lab focuses on the role of the molecular and cellular basis of neural plasticity as it pertains to neuropsychiatric disorders with a focus on understanding antidepressant action. She also studies the role of MeCP2, the gene linked to Rett syndrome, on synaptic plasticity and behavior. Dr. Monteggia received a B.S. and M.S. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She then worked in a pharmaceutical company where she concurrently attended Chicago Medical School receiving a Ph.D. in Neuroscience before completing a postdoctoral fellowship in molecular psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine. She joined the Department of Psychiatry at UT Southwestern and was promoted to Professor and held the Ginny & John Eulich Professorship of Autism Spectrum Disorders.  In Fall 2018, she moved to Vanderbilt University. Dr. Monteggia has received numerous awards including the Daniel X. Freedman Award from NARSAD, the Rising Star Award from IMHRO, the Daniel H. Efron Award for outstanding basic/translational research by ACNP, the Anna-Monika Foundation Award, and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Tony P George MD, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada
Dr. Tony George is Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto and is based at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto, Canada, where he directs a program of research focused on understanding the biological basis of addiction co-morbidity in serious mental illness, with a focus on schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. He served as Chief of the Schizophrenia Division (2008-2016), Medical Director of the Complex Mental Illness Program (2012-2016) and Chief of Addictions (2016-2019) at CAMH. He was also inaugural holder of the Chair in Addiction Psychiatry at the University of Toronto (2006-2012). His research is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the CAMH Foundation and the National Institutes of Drug Abuse (NIDA). He completed his undergraduate and medical school training at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada graduating with his M.D. degree in 1992. Dr. George then completed psychiatry residency training (1992-96) and a fellowship in Translational Neuroscience (1996-98) at the Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, USA, joining the psychiatry faculty at Yale in 1998. He was Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Yale University before coming to the University of Toronto as a Full Professor in the Fall of 2006. Dr. George has over 300 peer-reviewed publications, and is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP). Since 2013, he has served as Deputy Editor of the ACNP’s journal Neuropsychopharmacology (NPP). In 2023, he became Co-Principal Editor of NPP with Dr. Lisa Monteggia. He is also serves as Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of the Canadian Council on Substance Abuse (CCSA). Dr. George wrote the chapter on Nicotine and Tobacco in Cecil Textbook of Medicine in 2011, 2015, 2019 as well as for the newest edition to be published in 2023.

Carolyn Rodriguez, (Neuropsychopharmacology Reviews), Palo Alto, CA, USA

Dr. Carolyn Rodriguez is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Stanford University School of Medicine and a Consultation-Liaison Psychiatrist at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs. As the Director of the Translational Therapeutics Lab and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Dr. Rodriguez leads studies investigating the brain basis of severe mental disorders. Her landmark clinical trials pioneer rapid-acting treatments for illnesses including Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and related disorders. Her NIH-, foundation-, and donor-funded mechanistic and clinical efficacy studies span targeted glutamatergic and opioid pathway pharmacotherapy, noninvasive brain stimulation, psychotherapy and suicide prevention. She is co-author of “Hoarding Disorder: A Comprehensive Clinical Guide,” published August 2022 by APA Publishing. Dr. Rodriguez also serves as Deputy Editor of The American Journal of Psychiatry, member of the Research Council of the American Psychiatric Association, member of Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Scientific Council, member of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Advisory Group, and Scientific and Clinical Advisory Board member of the International OCD Foundation. She has won several national awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). The PECASE recognizes investigators who are pursuing bold and innovative projects and is considered one of the highest honors in scientific research. Carolyn presented her research at the World Economic Forum in Davos and Fortune Brainstorm Health 2022 and her work has been highlighted by organizations including NPR, PBS, New York Times, ABC News, NBC News, Newsweek, Fortune, and Time.com. She contributes articles to Harvard Business Review and Huffington Post to share scientific findings with the public. Carolyn received her B.S. in Computer Science from Harvard University, followed by an M.D. from Harvard Medical School-M.I.T. and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience and Genetics from Harvard Medical School. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, she now lives with her husband and three children in Palo Alto.

Charles Zorumski, (Neuropsychopharmacology Reviews), Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA

Charles F. Zorumski, M.D. is the Samuel B. Guze Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of Neuroscience at Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) in St. Louis.  Dr. Zorumski is also Director of the Taylor Family Institute for Innovative Psychiatric Research.  His laboratory studies synaptic transmission in the hippocampus with focus on short- and long-term modulation of the glutamate and GABA neurotransmitter systems, and understanding how these transmitter systems participate in memory and neuropsychiatric disorders.  A long-standing interest concerns the mechanisms by which neurosteroids and oxysterols modulate GABA and glutamate receptors. Clinically, Dr. Zorumski is interested in the treatment of refractory mood disorders.  He has published more than 390 scientific papers and five books, and holds five patents.  His work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1987.

Dr. Zorumski was named Head of the WUSM Department of Psychiatry in 1997 and he served in that capacity until 2022.  He was named Samuel B. Guze Professor in 1998.  From 1997 to 2022, Dr. Zorumski served on the Steering Committees of the McDonnell Center for Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology and the McDonnell Center for Systems Neuroscience, and was Director of the Center for Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology from 2002 to 2013.  Dr. Zorumski was named founding Director of the Taylor Family Institute in 2012.  In 2015, Dr. Zorumski became Chair of the Center for Brain Research in Mood Disorders and held that position until 2022.  He has served on the Editorial Boards of JAMA Psychiatry, Neurobiology of Disease and Cerebrum, and served on the Board of Scientific Counselors for the NIMH Intramural Research Program from 2009 to 2013.  Dr. Zorumski is a distinguished fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, and a fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and the American Psychopathological Association.  He was elected to the US National Academy of Medicine in 2012 and has previously served on the Academy’s Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders. Since 2011, he has also served on the Scientific Advisory Board of Sage Therapeutics, a publically-traded company developing neurosteroids and oxysterols as treatments for neuropsychiatric illnesses.

Susanne Ahmari MD PHD, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Susanne Ahmari, MD, PHD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at University of Pittsburgh, and Director of the Translational OCD Laboratory. She completed her MD/PhD degree at Stanford University, and psychiatry residency and research fellowship in Affective and Anxiety Disorders at Columbia University. Dr. Ahmari’s research program integrates basic neuroscience approaches and cutting-edge technology with clinical studies of OCD patients. Her lab combines optogenetics, in vivo electrophysiology, transgenic technology, in vivo microscopy, translatable behavioral measures, and human post-mortem brain studies to investigate pathophysiology underlying compulsive behaviors and anxiety. She also has active clinical collaborations to investigate the efficacy of neuromodulation-based treatments for OCD. Her ultimate goal is to identify molecular, cellular, and circuit-level changes that underlie the onset and persistence of abnormal repetitive and compulsive behaviors, and use this information to develop principled, neuroscientifically-based treatments for OCD and other related disorders. She has received numerous awards including the One Mind Rising Star Award, A.E. Bennett Award from the Society for Biological Psychiatry, McKnight Scholar Award, and Breakthrough Award from the International OCD Foundation. Her work is currently supported by grants from the NIMH, Brain Research Foundation, Klingenstein-Simons Foundation, One Mind Foundation, and IOCDF.

Stan Floresco PhD, University of British Columbia, Vancover, BC, Canada
Dr Floresco is a full professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of British Columbia. He obtained his Ph.D. in 2000 from the University of British Columbia and engaged in post-doctoral studies at the University of Pittsburgh until 2003. His research interests focus on neural circuits that facilitate different forms of learning and cognition, with a particular interest in the interactions between different brain regions within the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system that facilitate cognitive processes, such as behavioural flexibility, cost/benefit decision making and reward-related learning. A complementary aspect of his work deals with modelling dysfunction in these brain circuits and corresponding impairments in different forms of cognition associated with different diseases, such as stimulant addiction, schizophrenia and depression.

Markus Heilig MD PhD, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
Markus Heilig is Vice-Chancellor’s Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience at Linköping University, Sweden. He received his MD and PhD from Sweden’s Lund University, and was a post-doctoral fellow with Dr. George Koob at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA. Prior to his current appointment, Heilig served in various clinical and academic leadership positions at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm (1995 – 2004), and as Director of intramural clinical and translational research at the US National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (2004 – 2015). Heilig's research is centered on regulation of negative affect in addictive and anxiety disorders. His research strategies span from target identification in preclinical models to human mechanistic and therapeutic studies. Heilig has published >300 papers, and received numerous awards, including the European Neuropsychopharmacology Award and the Swedish Söderberg Award. He is an elected member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences, and a Wallenberg Clinical Scholar.

Matthew Hill PhD, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Matthew Hill is a Professor in the Departments of Cell Biology and Anatomy and Psychiatry at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary. Dr. Hill is also the Deputy Director of the Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education and the Inaugural Chair in the Mental Health Initiative on Stress and Trauma at the University of Calgary. He obtained his Ph.D in 2008 from the University of British Columbia and then did his post-doctoral training in the Laboratory of Dr. Bruce McEwen at the Rockefeller University until 2011 when he began his faculty position. Dr. Hill’s research has primarily focused on endocannabinoid signaling, its dynamic regulation by stress and how it modulates neural circuits governing stress, fear and anxiety. He also regularly partakes in translational research in clinical populations examining disturbances in endocannabinoid function in individuals afflicted with stress and trauma related conditions. More recently, his lab has begun to investigate the impacts of developmental exposure to cannabis using novel vapor-delivery technology for rodents. He has published over 160 scientific papers in the field, won numerous awards for his work and was elected as a Member in the Royal Society of Canada College of Young Scholars.

Leah Mayo PhD, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada

 Social Media Editor Leah Mayo is an Assistant Professor and the inaugural Parker Psychedelics Research Chair in the Department of Psychiatry at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute at the University of Calgary. She obtained her PhD in 2015 from the University of Chicago under the supervision of Dr. Harriet de Wit and completed her postdoctoral training with Dr. Markus Heilig at the Center for Social and Affective Neuroscience in Linköping, Sweden. Dr. Mayo began her faculty position in Sweden in 2020 and prior to relocating to Calgary in 2022. Dr. Mayo’s research focuses on developing novel pharmacological interventions for stress-related disorders such as PTSD and substance use disorders, with a particular focus on cannabinoid- and psychedelic-based interventions. Her research includes human pharmacology, neuroimaging, and psychophysiology, often with a strong translational component, aiming to bridge the gap between preclinical research and clinical implementation. Her work has received numerous recognitions, including the Young Investigator Award from the European Behavioral Pharmacology Society, the Early Career Award from the Society for Social Neuroscience, and the Somerfeld-Ziskind Research Award from the Society of Biological Psychiatry.

Francis J. McMahon MD, NIMH-IRP, NIH, Bethesda, MD, USA
Francis J. McMahon serves as Chief of the Human Genetics Branch and Genetic Basis of Mood & Anxiety Section within the Intramural Research Program at the National Institute of Mental Health. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.  His research is aimed at discovering and characterizing genes involved in mood and anxiety disorders, so that better methods of diagnosis and treatment can be developed. He is past President of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics and a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. His work has been recognized by many honors and awards, including the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation’s Colvin Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Mood Disorders Research. 

Yavin Shaham PhD, IRP/NIDA/NIH, Baltimore, MD, USA
Yavin Shaham received his BS and MA from the Hebrew U, Jerusalem, and his PhD from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, Bethesda, MD. His postdoctoral training was at Concordia U, Montreal, in the laboratory of Dr. Jane Stewart. Prior to joining the NIDA Intramural Research Program, he was an investigator at the Addiction Research Center, Toronto. He is currently a tenured Branch Chief and a Senior Investigator. His major awards include Society of Neuroscience Jacob Waletzky award for innovative research in drug and alcohol addiction, NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Grant Award, NIDA-IRP Investigator Mentoring Award, European Behavioral Pharmacology Society (EBPS) Distinguished Achievement Award, the NIH Director’s Award of Merit, and the NIH Ruth Kirschstein Mentoring Award. He has published over 240 empirical papers, reviews, and commentaries, and his papers were cited over 37,500 times. He has served as a Reviewing and Senior Editor of The Journal of Neuroscience from 2008 to 2018 and currently severs as a Reviewing Editor of Neuropsychopharmacology and as an Advisory Board Member of eNeuro. He is also an editorial board member of Biological Psychiatry, Psychopharmacology, Behavioural Pharmacology, and Addiction Biology. Shaham currently serves as the president of EBPS. His group investigates mechanisms of relapse to opioid and psychostimulant seeking, as assessed in rat models developed in his lab. (https://irp.drugabuse.gov/organization/bnrb/nrs/).

Kathryn Cunningham PhD, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, USA
Hot Topics Editor Kathryn A. Cunningham, Ph.D., is the Chauncey Leake Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology, Director of the Center for Addiction Research and Vice Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Her cross-disciplinary team is focused on neuropsychiatric disorders and engages chemists, cell biologists and clinical scientists to shepherd novel molecular targets toward improved therapeutics for these disorders. Funded by NIH for 25 years, Dr. Cunningham has mentored 40+ investigators and has generated seminal observations, new technologies and patents which are described in 120+ peer-reviewed publications and 25+ reviews and book chapters. She is a Fellow in the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and has served on multiple committees (Education and Training, Ethics, Membership, Nominating, Women's Task Force), most recently chairing the Membership Committee. Her role as Associate Editor of Neuropsychopharmacology includes solicitation and editorial oversight of Hot Topics submissions to the journal.