Dennis S. Charney

Charney graduated from medical school at Penn State in 1977 and completed his residency in Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine. A fellowship in Biological Psychiatry was completed at the Connecticut Medical Health Center.

Charney became the Dean of Research at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in 2004, later becoming the Dean for Academic and Scientific Affairs, finally succeeding Kenneth L. Davis as Dean of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in 2007.[2]

He has been named among the top 3 most highly cited authors of psychiatric research in the decade ending in 2000 by the Institute for Scientific Information, and listed in every edition of the “Best Doctors in America” since 1992.[3]

He owns patents in dopamine and noradrenergic reuptake inhibitors in treatment of schizophrenia[4] and in intranasal administration of ketamine to treat depression.[5]

He was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2000.[6]

On the morning August 29, 2016, Charney was shot and wounded by Hengjun Chao, as Charney left Lange’s Deli in Charney's hometown of Chappaqua, New York. Chao was a former Mount Sinai medical researcher who had been fired by Charney in 2010 for research fraud.[7][8][9] Chao's trial began on June 5, 2017, and eight days later Chao was convicted of attempted second degree murder and two other charges in Westchester County Court in White Plains. He was sentenced to 28 years in prison.[10][11][12][13][14]

In April 2019, Charney and the Icahn School were named in a lawsuit filed against Mount Sinai Health System and several employees of the hospital and the Icahn School's Arnhold Institute for Global Health.[15] The suit was filed by eight current and former employees for age and sex discrimination as well as improper reporting to funding agencies, misallocation of funds, failing to obtain Institutional Review Board approval prior to conducting research in violation of Mount Sinai and federal guidelines, and failing properly to adhere to the guidelines of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act or HIPAA."[16] The school denies the claims. In May 2019, more than 150 students at the Icahn School signed a letter, addressed to the Board of Trustees, calling on Mount Sinai Health System "to further investigate allegations of gender and age discrimination" as a result of the legal filing.[17] As of May 2019, more than 400 Icahn and Mount Sinai Health System faculty have signed a similar letter to the Board of Trustees, calling for an investigation by an external consultant and a commitment to hold all parties accountable.[18]

Charney is a grandfather and the father of several children. In 2014, his son Alex Charney became a practicing psychiatric resident at Mt Sinai hospital.[19]

In April 2019, a lawsuit was filed against Dr. Charney, several other defendants, and the Mount Sinai Health System for sex and age discrimination at the Arnhold Institute for Global Health at the Icahn School of Medicine.[16] The suit was filed by eight current and former employees, all but one women.[15] In August 2019, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint alleging further allegations.[20]

• Principal Investigator, VA National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and the NIMH Yale Mental Health Clinical Research Center.
• Member, Food and Drug Administration Psychopharmacologic Drug Advisory Committee
• Editorial Committee, Biological Psychiatry, a Publication of the Society of Biological Psychiatry[21]
• Former Chair, Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Institute of Mental Health
• Former Chair, Scientific Advisory Board of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA)
• Former Chair, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) Scientific Advisory Board
• Past President, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology[22]
• Member, Scientific Advisory Board of the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD, now known as the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation)
• Member, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI)
• Former Scientific Director, NIMH Strategic Plan for Mood Disorder Research in 2002.[23]

• 2017 Ketamine for Treatment-Resistant Depression – Named One of Top 10 on 2017 Health Care Innovations List [24]
• 2017 American Heart Association Heart of Gold Award [25][26]
• 2015 The World's Most Influential Minds[27]
• 2014 Distinguished Alumni Award from the Pennsylvania State University School of Medicine [28]
• 2014 The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds[29]
• 2012 Jacobi MEdallion Award, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai[30]
• 2009 ACNP Julius Axelrod Mentorship Award [31]
• 2006 The Gold Medal Award from the Society of Biological Psychiatry[32]
• 2004 CINP-Lilly Neuroscience Clinical Research Award
• 2004 The American Psychiatric Association Award for Research [33]
• 2002 The Heinz Lehman Award from the New York State Department of Mental Health
• 1999 The American College of Psychiatrists Award for Depression Research
• 1999 The Edward A. Strecker Award from Pennsylvania Hospital and the University of Pennsylvania [34]
• 1999 The Edward J. Sacher Award from Columbia University
• 1999 The Gerald L. Klerman Lifetime Achievement Award from the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA)[35]
• 1994-1995 Anna Monika Foundation Award for Research in Affective Disorders [36]
• 1992 Daniel H. Efron Research Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology [37]

• Mount Sinai Hospital homepage
• Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai homepage
• Dean's Office, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
• Biological Psychiatry: A Journal of Psychiatric Neuroscience and Therapeutics
• Video: Demons of Mind: Neuroscience and Other Weapons, Library of Congress
• Video: Coping with Anxiety and Depression in Uncertain Times, National Library of Medicine