Dr. Barondes has played a major role in bringing a molecular and genetic approach to neuroscience and psychiatry. In the 1960s, he participated in pioneering studies on the genetic code at the National Institutes of Health. He was involved in early research on protein synthesis in memory, on synaptogenesis and on the influence of genes in bipolar disorder. In recent years, he has authored three highly praised books for general readership: “Molecules and Mental Illness,” “Mood Genes: Hunting for Origins of Mania and Depression” and “Better Than Prozac: Creating the Next Generation of Psychiatric Drugs.”

A member of the University of California faculty since 1970, first at San Diego and, since 1986, at San Francisco, Dr. Barondes was formerly Chair of the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and Director of its Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute. He founded the Center for Neurobiology and Psychiatry at UCSF, which he still directs.