Faculty

Mary L Phillips, MD

Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, Clinical and Translational Science, and Bioengineering, and Pittsburgh Foundation-Emmerling Endowed Chair in Psychotic Disorders

Contact Details

3811 O'Hara St.
Pittsburgh
 
PA
 
15213
Email
Website
Mood and Brain Lab
Assistant
Jill Morris-Tillman
morristillmanje@upmc.edu

Education & Training

MD
Cambridge University
Psychiatry, Bethlem and Maudsley Hospitals Psychiatry Training

Current Appointments

Director, Mood and Brain Laboratory, and Clinical Affective and Translational Neuroscience Program
Director, Collaborative on Mood Disorders Research

Professional Affiliations

President, Society of Biological Psychiatry
Council Member, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation
Member, American Psychiatric Association
Council Member, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
Member, Society of Biological Psychiatry Women's Task Force

Selected Honors & Awards

Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award, National Institute of Mental Health
Highly Cited Researchers 2018 List, Clarivate Analytics
Chancellor's Distinguished Research Award, University of Pittsburgh
Colvin Prize for Bipolar Mood Disorder Research, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation
Joel Elkes Research Award, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
Elected Member, American Society of Clinical Investigation

Research Interests

Neuroimaging in mood disorders & OCD; Neuromodulation in mood disorders; Infant affective neural circuitry
Selected Research Publications & Products
  1. Chase HW, Fournier JC, Bertocci M, Greenberg T, Aslam H, Stiffler R, Lockovich J, Graur S, Bebko G, Forbes EE, Phillips ML (2017). A pathway linking reward circuitry, impulsive sensation seeking and risky decision making in young adults: identifying neural markers for new interventions. Translational Psychiatry 7: e1096. doi: 10.1038/tp.2017.60 [PMID: 28418404] PMCID in process
  2. Bertocci MA, Bebko G, Versace A, Fournier J, Iyengar S, Olino T, Bonar L, Almeida JR, Perlman SB, Schirda C, Travis M, Gill MK, Diwadkar VA, Forbes E, Sunshine JL, Holland SK, Kowatch RA, Birmaher B, Axelson D, Horwitz SM, Frazier TW, Arnold LE, Fristad MA, Youngstrom EA, Findling RL, Phillips ML (2016). Predicting clinical outcome from reward circuitry function and white matter structure in youth. Molecular Psychiatry. doi: 10.1038/mp.2016.5. [Epub ahead of print] [PMCID: PMC4993633]
  3. Versace A, Acuff H, Bertocci M, Bebko G, Almeida JCR, Perlman S, Leemans A, Schirda C, Aslam H, Dwojak A, Bonar L, Travis MJ, Gill MK, Demeter C, Diwadkar V, Sunshine J, Holland S, Kowatch R, Birmaher B, Axelson D, Horwitz S, Frazier T, Arnold LE, Fristad M, Youngstrom E, Findling R, Phillips ML. (2015). White Matter Structure in Youth with Behavioral and Emotional Dysregulation Disorders: A Probabilistic Tractographic Study. JAMA Psychiatry 72(2):367-76. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2014.2170. [PMCID: PMC4415624].
  4. Phillips ML, Swartz HA (2014). A critical appraisal of neuroimaging studies of bipolar disorder: toward a new conceptualization of underlying neural circuitry and roadmap for future research. American Journal of Psychiatry 171:829-843. doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.13081008 [PMCID: PMC4119497]
  5. Phillips ML, Kupfer DJ (2013). Bipolar Disorder Diagnosis: Challenges and Future Directions. The Lancet 381:1683-71. [PMID 23663952]

Education Interests

Research mentoring

Beatriz Luna, PhD, and Mary Phillips, MD, MD (Cantab) Are Elected Members of the National Academy of Medicine

Drs. Bea Luna and Mary Phillips

The Department of Psychiatry is pleased to announce that two faculty members, Beatriz Luna, PhD, and Mary Phillips, MD, MD (Cantab), have been elected to membership of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to...

Pitt Psychiatry Establishes Center for Neural Circuit-Based Technology Interventions in Psychiatry

Faculty of the New CNCTI-P Center

The Department of Psychiatry has established a Center for Neural Circuit-Based Technology Interventions in Psychiatry (CNCTI-P), which will be led by Mary Phillips, MD, MD (CANTAB) (Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, Clinical and Translational Science, and Bioengineering, and Pittsburgh Foundation-Emmerling Endowed Chair in Psychotic Disorders). Dr. Phillips is an international leader in affective neuroscience...

The 2024 Society of Biological Psychiatry Annual Meeting in Austin, TX

Collage of Photos from 2024 SOBP Meeting

The 2024 Society of Biological Psychiatry (SOBP) Annual Meeting was held in Austin, TX. Pitt Psychiatry faculty and trainees gathered for a program that explored whether the translational medicine approach is living up to its promise in psychiatry. The conference additionally presented the opportunity to network and meet up with Pitt Psychiatry friends and alums! Gold Medal Award Mary Phillips, MD, MD (Cantab)...

Psychiatry Research: Neural Markers of Mania That Distinguish Inpatient Adolescents with Bipolar Disorder from Those with Other Psychopathology

Drs. Rasim Diler and Michele Bertocci

Adolescents with manic or hypomanic episodes—key features of bipolar disorder (BD)—may experience delayed correct diagnosis or inappropriate treatment because some symptoms of BD are also seen in other disorders (such as unipolar depressive disorders and attention deficit/hyperactive disorder). A team of scientists from the University of Pittsburgh including Michele Bertocci, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry)...

Pitt Psychiatry Awarded $6M Baszucki Group Grant to Study the Therapeutic Effect of the Ketogenic Diet in Bipolar Disorder

Drs. Mary Phillips, Zachary Freyberg and Colleen McClung

A team of investigators led by Mary Phillips, MD, MD (Cantab) (Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, Clinical and Translational Science, and Bioengineering, and Pittsburgh Foundation-Emmerling Endowed Chair in Psychotic Disorders), have received a Baszucki Group grant to support their new center, “Elucidating Neurobiological Mechanisms Underlying the Therapeutic Effect of the Ketogenic Diet in Bipolar Disorder (BD...