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Diego A. Pizzagalli

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Diego A. Pizzagalli
NationalitySwiss
AwardsChristensen Fellowships, St Catherine’s College, Oxford University (2024)

Visiting Professor, Oxford University (2023)

Board Member, Anxiety and Depression Association of America (2024)

Neuropsychopharmacology Editor’s Award for a Review (NEAR), American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) (2023)

MERIT awards, the National Institute of Mental Health (2016, 2022)

Editor-In-Chief, Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience (since 2021)

Anna-Monika-Prize for Research in the Neurobiology and Treatment of Depressive Disorders (2019)

NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Award, Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (2018)

Joel Elkes Research Award, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) (2017)

Stuart T. Hauser, M.D. PhD. Mentorship Award in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School (2017)

Anne M. Cataldo Excellence in Mentoring Award, McLean Hospital (2015)
Scientific career
FieldsClinical and Affective Neuroscience
InstitutionsHarvard University McLean Hospital

Diego A. Pizzagalli is a Swiss neuroscientist, a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School..,[1] the Founding Director of the Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research (CDASR),[2] the Director of the McLean Imaging Center,[3] the Director of Research for the Division of Depression & Anxiety Disorders,[4] the Director of the McLean Conte Center for the Neurobiology of Approach-Avoidance Decision Making,[5] and the Director of the Laboratory for Affective and Translational Neuroscience[6] at McLean Hospital, Massachusetts.

Pizzagalli is best known for his expertise on the neurobiology of anhedonia (a core symptom of depression) and depression. For more than 20 years, he has devoted himself to improving our understanding of the causes, consequences, and pathophysiology of depression, paving the way towards the identification of biomarkers of depression and treatment response.[7]

Education

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Pizzagalli received his M.S. in Psychology in 1995 and Ph.D. in Psychology in 1998 from the University of Zurich, Switzerland. He then pursued a postdoctoral fellowship in affective neuroscience with Richard J. Davidson at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, where he used neuroimaging approaches (e.g., electroencephalogram, positron emission tomography) to identify neural markers associated with different symptom profiles and treatment response in major depression.

Career

[edit]

From 2002 to 2010, Dr. Pizzagalli was a faculty member in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University, where he served as the John and Ruth Hazel Associate Professor of the Social Sciences. In 2010, Pizzagalli joined McLean Hospital to serve as the Funding Director of the Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research (CDASR)[8]. At McLean Hospital, Pizzagalli is also the Director of the McLean Imaging Center (MIC).[3]

In addition, he serves as a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School[1] and holds the position of Director of a Silvio O. Conte Center for Basic Translational Mental Health Research.[5] Funded through a five-year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), this center is dedicated to studying the neurobiology of depression and anxiety disorders and identifying new treatment targets.[9]

He served as Scientific Advisor on the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)[7] and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP).[10] In 2021, he was named the Editor-in-Chief of Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience (CABN).[11] He joined Anxiety and Depression Association of America (ADAA) in 2013 and joined the Board in 2024.[12]

Joining UC Irvine in January 2025, Pizzagalli will serve as the Founding Director of the Noel Drury, M.D. Institute for Translational Depression Discoveries. Spanning the School of Medicine, School of Biological Sciences, and the School of Engineering, the Institute will lead the way in bench-to-bedside research, focusing on improved treatment and prevention strategies.[13] In parallel, he will be a Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford.[14]

Research

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Pizzagalli’s research is focused on three critical endophenotypes associated with depression: anhedonia, increased stress sensitivity, and executive function deficits.[6] His studies use a wide range of methods, including behavioral, electrophysiological and neuroimaging approaches, as well as preclinical models. His latest research has uncovered clinical, behavioral, and neural markers that could assist in the selection of antidepressant treatments prior to the onset of the intervention, paving the way for prevention and personalized treatment.[15]

Investigating Neurobiology of Anhedonia

Pizzagalli developed a laboratory-based measure of anhedonia – the Probabilistic Reward Task (PRT)[16] – which has been used by hundreds of labs worldwide in both academia and the pharmaceutical industry. More recently, he has co-developed versions of the PRT that are functionally identical for use in humans, non-human primates, rats and mice.[17][18][19] This development accelerates cross-species translation and evaluation of novel treatment targets.

Investigating Functional Neuroanatomy of Depression

Utilizing a combination of neuroimaging methods, Pizzagalli’s research indicates that distinct brain activation patterns correlate with individual variances in treatment response and specific depression phenotypes. These findings hold significance in the identification of individuals at increased risk for depression and the advancement of more effective depression treatments.[15][20][21]

Investigating Executive Dysfunction in Depression and At-Risk Individuals

Pizzagalli’s research reveals the association between the behavioral impairments in depression and an exaggerated, automatic neural response to errors, along with limited recruitment of brain regions responsible for cognitive control.[22][23][24] His ongoing studies aim to evaluate the hypothesis that these dysfunctions might increase vulnerability to subsequent depressive episodes.[25][26][27]

Establishing Predictors of Treatment Response in Depression

Pizzagalli’s research demonstrates that pretreatment resting EEG activity in the rostral anterior cingulate cortex predicted therapeutic improvement 4–6 months later in individuals with depression.[16] Currently, his team is investigating innovative behavioral and EEG markers to assess treatment response, potentially improving treatment selection and reducing the personal and socioeconomic challenges associated with the current trial-and-error approach[15][20][28][29]

Awards and honors

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  • Christensen Fellowships, St Catherine’s College, Oxford University, 2024
  • Visiting Professor, Oxford University, 2023[14]
  • Gerald L. Klerman Senior Investigator Award, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA), 2023[30]
  • Board Member, Anxiety and Depression Association of America, 2024[12]
  • Neuropsychopharmacology Editor’s Award for a Review (NEAR), American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP), 2023[31]
  • MERIT awards, the National Institute of Mental Health, 2016, 2022[32]
  • Editor-In-Chief, Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience, since 2021[11]
  • Anna-Monika-Prize for Research in the Neurobiology and Treatment of Depressive Disorders, 2019[33]
  • Highly Cited Researcher, Web of Science, since 2019[34]
  • NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Award, Brain & Behavior Research Foundation, 2017[35]
  • Scientific Advisor, American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 2017[36]
  • Joel Elkes Research Award, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP), 2017[37]
  • Stuart T. Hauser, M.D. PhD. Mentorship Award in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, 2017[38]
  • Anne M. Cataldo Excellence in Mentoring Award, McLean Hospital, 2015[39]
  • Early Career Award, the EEG and Clinical Neuroscience Society, 2007
  • Distinguished Scientific Award for an Early Career Contribution to Psychophysiology, the Society for Psychophysiological Research, 2006[40]

Personal life

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Pizzagalli was born and raised in Mendrisio, Switzerland. He is married to a clinical psychologist and has two adult children.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Diego Pizzagalli". dms.hms.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  2. ^ "CDASR | The Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research". cdasr.mclean.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  3. ^ a b "McLean Hospital | McLean Imaging Center". www.mcleanmri.org. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  4. ^ "Divisions at McLean Hospital". www.mcleanhospital.org. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  5. ^ a b "McLean Conte Center for the Neurobiology of Approach-Avoidance Decision Making at McLean Hospital". www.mcleanhospital.org. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  6. ^ a b "CDASR | Laboratory for Affective and Translational Neuroscience". cdasr.mclean.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  7. ^ a b "Diego A. Pizzagalli, PhD | McLean Hospital". www.mcleanhospital.org. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  8. ^ "CDASR | Director's Message". cdasr.mclean.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  9. ^ "2022 Symposium | Conte Center @ UCI". 2022-10-19. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  10. ^ "Board, committees and councils". American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. 2019-12-22. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  11. ^ a b "McLean News | Diego Pizzagalli, PhD, Named Editor of Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience". www.mcleanhospital.org. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  12. ^ a b "Diego Pizzagalli, PhD - ADAA Board | Anxiety and Depression Association of America, ADAA". adaa.org. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  13. ^ "Diego A. Pizzagalli Named Founding Director of UC Irvine Depression Research Institute | Samueli School of Engineering at UC Irvine". engineering.uci.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  14. ^ a b "Diego A. Pizzagalli named founding director of UC Irvine depression research institute". UCI News. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  15. ^ a b c Ang, Yuen-Siang; Kaiser, Roselinde; Deckersbach, Thilo; Almeida, Jorge; Phillips, Mary L.; Chase, Henry W.; Webb, Christian A.; Parsey, Ramin; Fava, Maurizio; McGrath, Patrick; Weissman, Myrna; Adams, Phil; Deldin, Patricia; Oquendo, Maria A.; McInnis, Melvin G. (2020-10-15). "Pretreatment Reward Sensitivity and Frontostriatal Resting-State Functional Connectivity Are Associated With Response to Bupropion After Sertraline Nonresponse". Biological Psychiatry. 88 (8): 657–667. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2020.04.009. ISSN 1873-2402. PMC 7529779. PMID 32507389.
  16. ^ a b Pizzagalli, Diego A.; Jahn, Allison L.; O'Shea, James P. (2005-02-15). "Toward an objective characterization of an anhedonic phenotype: a signal-detection approach". Biological Psychiatry. 57 (4): 319–327. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2004.11.026. ISSN 0006-3223. PMC 2447922. PMID 15705346.
  17. ^ Kangas, Brian D.; Wooldridge, Lisa M.; Luc, Oanh T.; Bergman, Jack; Pizzagalli, Diego A. (2020-08-13). "Empirical validation of a touchscreen probabilistic reward task in rats". Translational Psychiatry. 10 (1): 285. doi:10.1038/s41398-020-00969-1. ISSN 2158-3188. PMC 7426406. PMID 32792526.
  18. ^ Wooldridge, Lisa M.; Bergman, Jack; Pizzagalli, Diego A.; Kangas, Brian D. (2021-05-18). "Translational Assessments of Reward Responsiveness in the Marmoset". The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology. 24 (5): 409–418. doi:10.1093/ijnp/pyaa090. ISSN 1469-5111. PMC 8130205. PMID 33280005.
  19. ^ Kangas, Brian D.; Short, Annabel K.; Luc, Oanh T.; Stern, Hal S.; Baram, Tallie Z.; Pizzagalli, Diego A. (February 2022). "A cross-species assay demonstrates that reward responsiveness is enduringly impacted by adverse, unpredictable early-life experiences". Neuropsychopharmacology. 47 (3): 767–775. doi:10.1038/s41386-021-01250-9. ISSN 1740-634X. PMC 8682039. PMID 34921225.
  20. ^ a b Whitton, Alexis E.; Webb, Christian A.; Dillon, Daniel G.; Kayser, Jürgen; Rutherford, Ashleigh; Goer, Franziska; Fava, Maurizio; McGrath, Patrick; Weissman, Myrna; Parsey, Ramin; Adams, Phil; Trombello, Joseph M.; Cooper, Crystal; Deldin, Patricia; Oquendo, Maria A. (2019-05-15). "Pretreatment Rostral Anterior Cingulate Cortex Connectivity With Salience Network Predicts Depression Recovery: Findings From the EMBARC Randomized Clinical Trial". Biological Psychiatry. 85 (10): 872–880. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.12.007. ISSN 1873-2402. PMC 6499696. PMID 30718038.
  21. ^ Pizzagalli, Diego A.; Webb, Christian A.; Dillon, Daniel G.; Tenke, Craig E.; Kayser, Jürgen; Goer, Franziska; Fava, Maurizio; McGrath, Patrick; Weissman, Myrna; Parsey, Ramin; Adams, Phil; Trombello, Joseph; Cooper, Crystal; Deldin, Patricia; Oquendo, Maria A. (2018-06-01). "Pretreatment Rostral Anterior Cingulate Cortex Theta Activity in Relation to Symptom Improvement in Depression: A Randomized Clinical Trial". JAMA Psychiatry. 75 (6): 547–554. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.0252. ISSN 2168-6238. PMC 6083825. PMID 29641834.
  22. ^ Holmes, Avram J.; Pizzagalli, Diego A. (February 2008). "Spatiotemporal dynamics of error processing dysfunctions in major depressive disorder". Archives of General Psychiatry. 65 (2): 179–188. doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2007.19. ISSN 1538-3636. PMC 2587280. PMID 18250256.
  23. ^ Pizzagalli, Diego A. (January 2011). "Frontocingulate dysfunction in depression: toward biomarkers of treatment response". Neuropsychopharmacology. 36 (1): 183–206. doi:10.1038/npp.2010.166. ISSN 1740-634X. PMC 3036952. PMID 20861828.
  24. ^ Pizzagalli, Diego A.; Roberts, Angela C. (January 2022). "Prefrontal cortex and depression". Neuropsychopharmacology. 47 (1): 225–246. doi:10.1038/s41386-021-01101-7. ISSN 1740-634X. PMC 8617037. PMID 34341498.
  25. ^ Whitton, Alexis E.; Van't Veer, Ashlee; Kakani, Pragya; Dillon, Daniel G.; Ironside, Manon L.; Haile, Anja; Crowley, David J.; Pizzagalli, Diego A. (January 2017). "Acute stress impairs frontocingulate activation during error monitoring in remitted depression". Psychoneuroendocrinology. 75: 164–172. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2016.10.007. ISSN 1873-3360. PMC 5135598. PMID 27835807.
  26. ^ Auerbach, Randy P.; Pagliaccio, David; Hubbard, Nicholas A.; Frosch, Isabelle; Kremens, Rebecca; Cosby, Elizabeth; Jones, Robert; Siless, Viviana; Lo, Nicole; Henin, Aude; Hofmann, Stefan G.; Gabrieli, John D. E.; Yendiki, Anastasia; Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan; Pizzagalli, Diego A. (February 2022). "Reward-Related Neural Circuitry in Depressed and Anxious Adolescents: A Human Connectome Project". Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. 61 (2): 308–320. doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2021.04.014. ISSN 1527-5418. PMC 8643367. PMID 33965516.
  27. ^ Kaiser, Roselinde H.; Peterson, Elena; Kang, Min Su; Van Der Feen, Julie; Aguirre, Blaise; Clegg, Rachel; Goer, Franziska; Esposito, Erika C.; Auerbach, Randy P.; Pizzagalli, Diego A. (August 2019). "Frontoinsular Network Markers of Current and Future Adolescent Mood Health". Biological Psychiatry. Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging. 4 (8): 715–725. doi:10.1016/j.bpsc.2019.03.014. ISSN 2451-9030. PMC 6688954. PMID 31155512.
  28. ^ Pizzagalli, D.; Pascual-Marqui, R. D.; Nitschke, J. B.; Oakes, T. R.; Larson, C. L.; Abercrombie, H. C.; Schaefer, S. M.; Koger, J. V.; Benca, R. M.; Davidson, R. J. (March 2001). "Anterior cingulate activity as a predictor of degree of treatment response in major depression: evidence from brain electrical tomography analysis". The American Journal of Psychiatry. 158 (3): 405–415. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.158.3.405. ISSN 0002-953X. PMID 11229981.
  29. ^ Webb, Christian A.; Trivedi, Madhukar H.; Cohen, Zachary D.; Dillon, Daniel G.; Fournier, Jay C.; Goer, Franziska; Fava, Maurizio; McGrath, Patrick J.; Weissman, Myrna; Parsey, Ramin; Adams, Phil; Trombello, Joseph M.; Cooper, Crystal; Deldin, Patricia; Oquendo, Maria A. (May 2019). "Personalized prediction of antidepressant v. placebo response: evidence from the EMBARC study". Psychological Medicine. 49 (7): 1118–1127. doi:10.1017/S0033291718001708. ISSN 1469-8978. PMC 6314923. PMID 29962359.
  30. ^ "2023-2024 Klerman Award Winners". Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
  31. ^ "Publications". ACNP. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  32. ^ Pizzagalli, Diego. "Neuroimaging Studies of Reward Processing in Depression". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  33. ^ "Prize Award Winners". ANNA-MONIKA-FOUNDATION (in German). Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  34. ^ "Web of Science". www.webofscience.com. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  35. ^ "Meet Our 2017 Distinguished Investigators". Meet Our 2017 Distinguished Investigators | Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. 2017-12-12. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  36. ^ "AFSP 2022 Annual Report". annual2022.afsp.org. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  37. ^ "McLean News | Pizzagalli Receives 2017 Joel Elkes Research Award". www.mcleanhospital.org. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  38. ^ "Stuart T. Hauser, MD, PhD, Mentorship Award in Psychiatry". psych.hms.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  39. ^ "McLean Research Community Annual Meeting | Mass General Brigham RISC". rc.partners.org. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  40. ^ "Early Career Award Addresses - Society for Psychophysiological Research". sprweb.org. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
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