Dr. Michael E. Thase, MD

Michael E. Thase, M.D., joined the faculty of the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in January, 2007 as Professor of Psychiatry and director of the Department of Psychiatry’s Mood and Anxiety Section after more than 27 years at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic.  Professor Thase also directs the Mood Disorders Research studies at the Philadelphia VAMC. A 1979 graduate of the Ohio State University College of Medicine, Dr. Thase is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, a member of President of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology, and Vice Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of the National Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance.  Dr. Thase has been elected to the membership of the American College of Psychiatrists and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. Dr. Thase’s research, which has been continuously funded by the Institutes of the NIH for nearly 30 years, focuses on the assessment and treatment of mood disorders, including studies of the differential therapeutics of both depression and bipolar affective disorder.  Recent research projects have included studies of novel ketamine-like compounds, a multicenter study of the efficacy of rTMS for depressed veterans (funded as a cooperative study by the VHA), a multicenter trial comparing the effectiveness and tolerability of lithium and quetiapine for bipolar depression (funded by AHRQ and conducted as part of the Bipolar Treatment Network), and a large scale noninferiority trial comparing a novel computer-administered form of Cognitive Therapy versus the conventional 20 session/16 week model of treatment (two center trial funded by NIMH, with J. Wright of University of Louisville). Dr. Thase has authored or co-authored more than 700 scientific articles and book chapters, as well as 16 books.