Charles Nemeroff

Charles Barnet Nemeroff (born 1949) is an American psychiatrist known for his work in treating depression.

Life and career

Nemeroff was born in New York City and graduated from the City College of New York in 1970. He received a Master’s degree in Biology in 1973 from Northeastern University. He then earned his PhD in neurobiology in 1973 and his M.D. in 1981, both from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Nemeroff joined the faculty of Duke University after completing his training, then took a position at the Emory University School of Medicine in 1991.

He is the author of numerous textbooks, papers, and clinical studies. His undisclosed ties to drugmakers and under-reported incomes from them have raised questions about conflict of interest. Following criticism from Senator Charles Grassley of the Senate Finance Committee, Nemeroff resigned as chair of the psychiatry department at Emory University. He was also forbidden by Emory to act as an investigator or co-investigator on National Institutes of Health grants for at least two years. Nemeroff has moved to Florida and become the chair of psychiatry at the University of Miami.

According to the Annals of Neurology, the court documents released as a result of one of the lawsuits against GSK in October 2008 indicated that GSK "and/or researchers may have suppressed or obscured suicide risk data during clinical trials" of paroxetine. "Charles Nemeroff, former Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Emory University, was the first big name 'outed' ...In early October, Nemeroff stepped down as department chair amid revelations that he had received over $960,000 from GSK in 2006, yet reported less than $35,000 to the school. Subsequent investigations revealed payments totaling more than $2.5 million from drug companies between 2000 and 2006, yet only a fraction was disclosed."

Dr. Nemeroff was born in New York City in 1949 and educated in the New York City Public School System. After graduating from the City College of New York in 1970, he enrolled in graduate school at Northeastern University and received a Master's degree in Biology in 1973. He received his MD and PhD (Neurobiology) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His residency training in psychiatry was conducted at both the University of North Carolina and at Duke University, after which he joined the faculty of Duke University. At Duke he was Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology and Chief of the Division of Biological Psychiatry before relocating in 1991 to Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, where he served as the Reunette W. Harris Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences until 2008. In 2009 he joined the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine as the Leonard M. Miller Professor and Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. His research has concentrated on the biological basis of the major neuropsychiatric disorders, including affective disorders, schizophrenia, and anxiety disorders. His clinical research is focused on the use of genetic, neuroendocrine, neuroimaging and neurochemical methods to comprehensively understand the pathophysiology of depression. In recent years he has uncovered the neurobiological mechanisms that mediate the increased risk for depression in victims of child abuse. He has also contributed to seminal findings in the burgeoning area of research concerning the relationship of depression to cardiovascular disease.

External links

• Dr. Charles B. Nemeroff. M.D., Ph.D. faculty page via Emory University