Journal of Depression and Anxiety
Open Access

Marc Nicholas Potenza

Biography

Dr. Potenza is a board-certified psychiatrist with sub-specialty training and certification in addiction psychiatry. He has trained at Yale University receiving a combined BS/MS with Honors in Molecular Biochemistry and Biophysics and a PhD in Cell Biology, the latter concurrent with the MD through the Medical Scientist Training Program.  He completed internship, psychiatric residency and addiction psychiatry fellowship training at Yale.  Currently, he is a Professor of Psychiatry, Child Study and Neurobiology at the Yale University School of Medicine where he is Director of the Problem Gambling Clinic, the Center of Excellence in Gambling Research, and the Women and Addictive Disorders Core of Womens Health Research at Yale, and Director of Neuroimaging for the VISN1 MIRECC of the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. He is on the editorial boards of eight journals and has received multiple national and international awards for excellence in research and clinical care.  He has consulted to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Registry of Effective Programs, National Institutes of Health, American Psychiatric Association and World Health Organization on matters of addiction.

Research Interest

Dr. Potenza′s research has focused on the neurobiology and treatment of disorders characterized by impaired impulse control, particularly the disorders characterized in DSM-IV as “Impulse Control Disorders Not Elsewhere Classified.” The majority of this work has focused on understanding clinical and neurobiological underpinnings of these disorders, and their co-occurrences with other mental health conditions such as anxiety and depressive disorders, in order to advance prevention and treatment strategies. This work has involved a developmental perspective, with a focus on adolescence. Dr. Potenza′s research has applied brain imaging, genetic, epidemiological and clinical trials methodologies to gain knowledge and improve prevention and treatment strategies. This work has also involved a specific focus on gender and identifying potential intermediary phenotypes, like facets of impulsivity, that may in part explain the high rates of co-occurrence between impulse control disorders and other mental health conditions, and might represent novel targets for prevention and treatment strategies.