Dr. Fava obtained his MD from the University of Padova School of Medicine where he completed residency training in endocrinology. He completed residency training in psychiatry at Mass General. He founded and was Director of the hospital’s Depression Clinical and Research Program (DCRP)  from 1990 to 2014. In 2007, he  founded and is now  Executive Director of the Mass General Psychiatry Clinical Trials Network and Institute (CTNI), the first academic CRO specialized in  planning and coordination of multi-center clinical trials in psychiatry.

Under Dr. Fava’s direction, the DCRP became one of the most highly regarded depression programs in the country, a model for academic programs that link, in a bi-directional fashion, clinical and research work. Dr. Fava has been successful in obtaining funding as principal or co-principal investigator from both the National Institutes of Health and other sources for a total of more than $95,000,000. His prominence in the field is reflected in his role as the co-principal investigator of STAR*D, the largest research study ever conducted in the area of depression, and of the RAPID Network, the NIMH-funded series of studies of novel, rapidly-acting antidepressant therapies.

Dr. Fava is a world leader in the field of depression. He has authored or co-authored more than 800 original articles published in medical journals with international circulation, edited eight books, and published more than 50 chapters and over 600 abstracts.