Clinical Research Fellowships

Research fellowships for psychiatrists and PhD-trained individuals are available.  Fellows actively participate in ongoing research and self-initiated studies under the supervision of senior investigators.  Training entails participation in a wide range of educational activities, including individual and group tutorials, courses on research design, statistics, grant-writing, career development and bioethics, a journal club, and other seminars and lectures. 

Areas of active research include:

Bipolar Disorders

Fellows participate in studies of [description to follow] (Jair Soares, M.D.).

Early Brain Development and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

Fellows participate in studies of normal brain development and neurodevelopmental disorders, including MRI, prenatal ultrasound, and genetic studies of early brain development in autism, fragile X syndrome (Joe Piven, M.D.), Turner’s syndrome (Rebecca Knickmeyer, Ph.D.), and children, including twins, at high risk for schizophrenia (John Gilmore, M.D.).

Eating Disorders

Fellows participate in studies of [description to follow] (Cynthia Bulik, Ph.D.).

Neuroimaging

Fellows participate in studies and acquire expertise in the areas of structural functional MRI, MR spectroscopy, and diffusion tensor imaging involving patients with or at high risk for schizophrenia, including patients in the prodromal stage of schizophrenia (Aysenil Belger Ph.D., Diana Perkins, M.D., M.P.H., Weili Lin, Ph.D., Martin Styner, Ph.D.).

Psychopharmacology

Fellows participate in studies and acquire expertise in the areas of basic and clinical psychopharmacology, experimental therapeutics and treatment effectiveness research in schizophrenia, including prodromal, adolescent, first-episode and treatment resistant populations (Diana Perkins, M.D., M.P.H., Scott Stroup M.D., M.P.H., and Lin Sikich, M.D.), depression (Bradley Gaynes, M.D.), neurodevelopmental disorders (Joe Piven M.D. and James Bodfish M.D.), and bipolar disorder (Jair Soares, M.D.).

Reproductive Psychiatry

Fellows participate in studies and acquire expertise in the areas of women's mental health, reproductive endocrinology, reproductive neuroscience, biostatistics and clinical research design (David R. Rubinow, M.D., Cort Pedersen, M.D., Samantha Meltzer-Brody, M.D.).

Stress and Health

Fellows participate in studies of and acquire expertise in the use of behavioral and psychophysiological methods to investigate psychiatric factors influencing the risk for cardiovascular disease, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, bulimia, chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia (Susan Girdler, Ph.D.).

Translational Neuroscience and Pharmacology

Fellows participate in studies of and acquire expertise in the areas of preclinical neurobiology and pharmacology at the molecular, cellular and systems levels as applied to the investigation of mental illness.  This includes the development of animal models using targeted gene approaches, studies of pathophysiologic and pharmacologic mechanisms of action and developmental neurobiologic mechanisms as they relate to disease pathogenesis (John Gilmore M.D., Anthony LaMantia Ph.D., Gary Duncan Ph.D., Patricia Maness Ph.D., Leslie Morrow Ph.D., Joey Johns, Ph.D.). 

Minority applicants are encouraged to apply. 

Prospective applicants should send a letter outlining their interests, a CV, and three letters of reference to

John H. Gilmore, M.D.
Vice-Chair for Research and Scientfic Affairs and Director of Research Training
Department of Psychiatry
Campus Box #7160
University of North Carolina School of Medicine
Chapel Hill, N.C. 27599-7160.