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About the speaker

Christopher Pittenger, MD, PhD, is Mears & Jameson Professor of Psychiatry and Professor in the Child Study Center, Deputy Chair for Translational Research in Psychiatry, Director of the Yale OCD Research Clinic, and Director of the Neuroscience Research Training Program (NRTP) and the Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit at Yale University.  He completed his MD and PhD degrees at Columbia University and his residency in adult psychiatry at Yale.  His research focuses on the pathophysiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), Tourette syndrome, and related conditions, and on harnessing new insights to develop novel strategies for diagnosis, prevention, and treatment; his work incorporates genetics, biochemistry, mechanistic studies in animal models, investigations of neuro-immune interactions, human neuroimaging and quantitative behavioral studies, psychotherapy and neurofeedback, testing novel pharmacological strategies in patients with refractory disease, and brain stimulation. 

His clinical expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of difficult cases of OCD is widely recognized; in 2017 he authored a comprehensive textbook on OCD with Oxford University Press.  He leads the scientific programming and grant selection committee at the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF) and sits on the Scientific, Clinical, and/or Educational Advisory Boards of the IOCDF, the PANDAS Network, the Neuroimmune Foundation, the UCSF and Mt. Sinai School of Medicine Physician-Training Programs, and the Stanford PANS Clinic.   As Director of the NRTP he leads Yale’s educational efforts for the training of physician-scientists in psychiatry and has mentored a generation of young investigators.  Dr. Pittenger’s work has been recognized and supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the International OCD Foundation, The Tourette’s Association of American, the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, and numerous other charitable foundations and industry partners. 

Disclosure Statements

Sheppard Pratt holds the standard that its continuing medical education programs should be free of commercial bias and conflict of interest. In accord with Sheppard Pratt's Disclosure Policy, as well as standards of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) and the American Medical Association (AMA), all planners, reviewers, speakers and persons in control of content have been asked to disclose any relationship he /she has with any entity producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients, during the past 24 months. All planners, reviewers and speakers have also been asked to disclose any payments accepted for this lecture from any entity besides Sheppard Pratt, and if there will be discussion of any products, services or off-label uses of product(s) during this presentation.

Christopher Pittenger, MD, PhD, reports he will discuss off-label use for Riluzole, Memantine, Ketamine, and the investigational use of Tririluzole in this presentation. He also reports the following relationships with financial interest: Biohaven Pharmaceuticals - Consultant; Grant Support; Ceruvia Biosciences - Consultant.; Transcend Therapeutics - Grant Support; Freedom Biosciences - Consultant; Usona Institute - Grant Support. No products or services used on patients will be discussed during this presentation. The content of his presentation was reviewed to find and mitigate any conflicts of interest to ensure that the information presented is balanced and evidence-based and contains no logos, brand-names, or advertisements.

Event Planners/Reviewers Disclosures: The following event planners and/or reviewers are reported as having no financial interest, arrangement or affiliation with any entity producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing health care goods or services consumed by, or used on, patients, during the past 24 months: Jon Hershfield, MFT, Todd Peters, MD, Elizabeth Ryznar, MD, MSc, Louis J. Marino, Devi Bhuyan, PsyD, Faith Dickerson, PhD, Carrie Etheridge, LCSW-C, April Sobiech, LCSW-C, Latia Suite, LCSW-C, Rachel Smolowitz, PhD, Tom Flis, LCPC, Stacey Garnett, RN, MSN, Stephanie M. Robinson, MSN, RN, Lisa E. Seldon, DNP, MSA, RN, NEA-BC, Lisa Illum, MLIS, MEd, and Jennifer Tornabene.