Kerry J. Ressler, M.D., Ph.D.

Kerry J. Ressler, M.D., Ph.D.
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Scientific Council Member (Joined 2009)

2017 Distinguished Investigator Grant

2009 Freedman Prizewinner for Exceptional Basic Research

2005, 2002 Young Investigator Grant

Kerry J. Ressler, M.D., Ph.D.

bbrf awards icon Title & Institution

Chief Scientific Officer

Chief, Division of Depression and Anxiety Disorders

James and Patricia Poitras Chair in Psychiatry

Director, Neurobiology of Fear Laboratory

McLean Hospital

Professor of Psychiatry

Harvard University

Professor

Emory University School of Medicine

bbrf awards icon BBRF Awards & Recognition
bbrf awards icon Bio

Dr. Ressler’s work focuses on translational research that bridges basic studies of the mechanisms of fear in animal models with clinical research on the genetics that underlie human fear and anxiety disorders, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Based on the premise that the neurobiology of emotional learning provides tremendous insight into fear-related disorders, Dr. Ressler’s preclinical laboratory is examining the molecular neurobiology of brain systems that mediate fear and emotion in animals, concentrating on the amygdala, a key brain region involved.

Dr. Ressler received a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology at MIT and received an M.D., Ph.D. from Harvard Medical School. In 1992 at Harvard, he was the first student of Dr. Linda Buck, helping to identify the molecular organization of the odorant receptor family in mice, part of the body of work for which she shared the Nobel Prize in 2004.

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