Dr. Goodwin’s research focuses on bipolar disorder, major depression and suicide. As a Founding Partner of Best Practice, a consulting firm providing expertise to pharmaceutical and biotech companies and managed care organizations worldwide, Dr. Goodwin led a study showing that lithium was significantly more effective than other widely-used mood stabilizers protecting against suicide among 26,000 bipolar I patients. He served from 1981 to 1988 as NIMH Scientific Director and Chief of Intramural Research, and prior to that held a Presidential appointment as head of the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration.

Dr. Goodwin is a graduate of Georgetown University and received his M.D. from St. Louis University. He is the author of over 460 publications, and together with K.R. Jamison, Ph.D., wrote “Manic-Depressive Illness,” the first psychiatric text to win the Best Medical Book award from the Association of American Publishers.