The Mental Health and Addictive Disorders Research Program is an integral part of the Departments of Psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine and the Department of Veterans Affairs New York Harbor Healthcare System. Our goal is to improve diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric and addictive disorders, and to extend what is known about underlying causes and physiology. Disorders of particular interest include the addictive disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), stress disorders and schizophrenia. Underlying the program is the conviction that clinical care, training and research are all enhanced where they coexist in a mutually supportive environment, and that the quality of each component reflects the quality of the others.

This program has grown as a result of the collaborative efforts of a multidisciplinary team of clinical and basic scientists and research staff. Research activities are supported by administrative, clinical, regulatory, training, quality assurance and data cores, and by laboratories specializing in clinical neuroimaging, drug-of-abuse cue reactivity, modulation of the acoustic startle response, and collaborations with preclinical laboratories specializing in pharmacology, behavior and genetics. Over the last three decades MHADRP researchers have contributed to the development of virtually all of the atypical antipsychotic agents, several antidepressants and anxiolytics, and therapeutic agents for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and for opiate, cocaine, alcohol, and tobacco dependence.

The MHADRP offers research training opportunities for undergraduates, medical and other graduate students, residents and post-doctoral fellows.

Support for MHADRP activities comes from the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Veterans Affairs, from private foundations and from industry. The New York Node of the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network and a National Institute on Drug Abuse Medications Development for Stimulants program are centered within the MHADRP. Most of our inpatient and outpatient facilities are located at the New York Campus of the DVA NYHHS adjacent to the NYU School of Medicine. These include inpatient beds for short-term treatment of psychiatric disorders, drug and alcohol dependence, and dual diagnoses as well as a full spectrum of outpatient services.

Current Research Programs

Current Clinical Studies