2022 Symposium

Dr. Diego A. Pizzagalli received his M.A. (1995) and Ph.D. (1998) from the University of Zurich, Switzerland and did post-doctoral work at University of Wisconsin, Madison. From 2002-2010 he 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, he was recruited to McLean Hospital to serve as the Founding Director of the newly established Center for Depression, Anxiety and Stress Research (CDASR), as well as the Director of the McLean Imaging Center (MIC). Since September 2015, he also serves as the Director of Research for the Division of Depression and Anxiety. He is currently a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, and the Center Director for a Silvio O. Conte Center for Basic Translational Mental Health Research focused on the neurobiology of and novel treatment targets for depression and anxiety disorders.

The main goals of his research are to improve our understanding of the psychological, environmental, and neurobiological factors associated with mood disorders, particularly major depression. To this end, he integrates behavioral, electrophysiological, neuroimaging, and, more recently, pharmacological approaches to investigate three putative endophenotypes of depression: anhedonia, increased stress sensitivity, and executive function deficits.

Dr. Pizzagalli has published over 310 papers and chapters and serves on the editorial board of 13 journals. He is currently the Editor-In-Chief for the journal Cognitive, Affective and Behavioral Neuroscience.