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Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit
Connecticut Mental Health Center
34 Park Street, Ste 3rd floor
New Haven, CT 06519
  • Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit
    Connecticut Mental Health Center
    34 Park Street, Ste 3rd floor
    New Haven, CT 06519

Christopher Pittenger, MD, PhD

he/him/his
Psychiatry
Telehealth is available
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Patient type treated
Child, Adult
Accepting new patients
Yes
Referral required
MD to MD Consult
Board Certified in
Psychiatry

Biography

Chris Pittenger, MD, PhD, earned his MD and PhD degrees from Columbia University, where his graduate work was done with Nobel Prize recipient Eric Kandel. He returned to Yale University, his undergraduate alma mater, for residency and research training in psychiatry in 2003. He joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2007 and is now Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry, Professor of Psychology and in the Child Study Center, and Deputy Chair for Translational Research in the Department of Psychiatry.

Dr. Pittenger has always been fascinated by the question of how the brain, a complex but ultimately a physical structure, creates thought, feeling, consciousness, and other aspects of the mind. As a psychiatrist he is additionally focused on how these processes go wrong—how brain dysregulation leads to dysregulated cognition, emotion, and behavior and to mental suffering, and how advancing our understanding of these relationships can guide us to new strategies to alleviate that suffering.

Much of his work has focused on obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette syndrome and on the cortico-basal ganglia circuitry that is implicated in their pathophysiology. More recently Dr. Pittenger has co-founded the Yale Program for Psychedelic Science, focusing on understanding how molecules like psilocybin and LSD can teach us about brain and behavior and may lead to new treatments for a range of neuropsychiatric pathology. He is also one of the founding Directors of the Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health, which seeks to bridge disciplines and levels of analysis to bring new therapeutics to individuals suffering from disorders of the mind and brain.

Dr. Pittenger's research and clinical work have been acknowledged by a number of prestigious awards, including grant funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke, NARSAD, the Tourette Syndrome of America, the Doris Duke Charitable Trust, and other organizations. He has won a number of awards, including from the National Institute of Mental Health, the Society for Neuroscience, the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American College of Psychiatrists.

He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the International OCD Foundation and Chair of both their Grant Review Committee and their Annual Research Symposium Planning Committee. He is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Neurological Association.

Titles

  • Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry
  • Deputy Chair for Translational Research, Psychiatry
  • Director, Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit, Psychiatry
  • Director, Yale Program for Psychedelic Science, Psychiatry
  • Director, Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health, Yale School of Medicine
  • Director, Yale OCD Research Clinic, Psychiatry
  • Director, Neuroscience Research Training Program, Yale Department of Psychiatry

Education & Training

  • McNeil Research Fellow
    Yale University (2007)
  • Resident in Adult Psychiatry
    Yale University (2007)
  • MD
    Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons (2003)
  • PhD
    Columbia University (2002)
  • MPhil
    Columbia University (1998)
  • MS
    Yale University (1994)
  • BS
    Yale University (1994)
  • Diplomate
    American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

Additional Information

Locations
Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit
Connecticut Mental Health Center
34 Park Street, Ste 3rd floor
New Haven, CT 06519
  • Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit
    Connecticut Mental Health Center
    34 Park Street, Ste 3rd floor
    New Haven, CT 06519

Biography

Chris Pittenger, MD, PhD, earned his MD and PhD degrees from Columbia University, where his graduate work was done with Nobel Prize recipient Eric Kandel. He returned to Yale University, his undergraduate alma mater, for residency and research training in psychiatry in 2003. He joined the faculty as an Assistant Professor in 2007 and is now Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry, Professor of Psychology and in the Child Study Center, and Deputy Chair for Translational Research in the Department of Psychiatry.

Dr. Pittenger has always been fascinated by the question of how the brain, a complex but ultimately a physical structure, creates thought, feeling, consciousness, and other aspects of the mind. As a psychiatrist he is additionally focused on how these processes go wrong—how brain dysregulation leads to dysregulated cognition, emotion, and behavior and to mental suffering, and how advancing our understanding of these relationships can guide us to new strategies to alleviate that suffering.

Much of his work has focused on obsessive-compulsive disorder and Tourette syndrome and on the cortico-basal ganglia circuitry that is implicated in their pathophysiology. More recently Dr. Pittenger has co-founded the Yale Program for Psychedelic Science, focusing on understanding how molecules like psilocybin and LSD can teach us about brain and behavior and may lead to new treatments for a range of neuropsychiatric pathology. He is also one of the founding Directors of the Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health, which seeks to bridge disciplines and levels of analysis to bring new therapeutics to individuals suffering from disorders of the mind and brain.

Dr. Pittenger's research and clinical work have been acknowledged by a number of prestigious awards, including grant funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke, NARSAD, the Tourette Syndrome of America, the Doris Duke Charitable Trust, and other organizations. He has won a number of awards, including from the National Institute of Mental Health, the Society for Neuroscience, the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American College of Psychiatrists.

He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the International OCD Foundation and Chair of both their Grant Review Committee and their Annual Research Symposium Planning Committee. He is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Neurological Association.

Titles

  • Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry
  • Deputy Chair for Translational Research, Psychiatry
  • Director, Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit, Psychiatry
  • Director, Yale Program for Psychedelic Science, Psychiatry
  • Director, Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health, Yale School of Medicine
  • Director, Yale OCD Research Clinic, Psychiatry
  • Director, Neuroscience Research Training Program, Yale Department of Psychiatry

Education & Training

  • McNeil Research Fellow
    Yale University (2007)
  • Resident in Adult Psychiatry
    Yale University (2007)
  • MD
    Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons (2003)
  • PhD
    Columbia University (2002)
  • MPhil
    Columbia University (1998)
  • MS
    Yale University (1994)
  • BS
    Yale University (1994)
  • Diplomate
    American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

Additional Information

Locations
Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit
Connecticut Mental Health Center
34 Park Street, Ste 3rd floor
New Haven, CT 06519
  • Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit
    Connecticut Mental Health Center
    34 Park Street, Ste 3rd floor
    New Haven, CT 06519
Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit
Connecticut Mental Health Center
34 Park Street, Ste 3rd floor
New Haven, CT 06519
  • Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit
    Connecticut Mental Health Center
    34 Park Street, Ste 3rd floor
    New Haven, CT 06519