UCSD Names Ming Tsuang to Endowed Chair in Behavioral Genomics
July 19, 2007
By Kimberly Edwards

Ming T. Tsuang, M.D., Ph.D., D.Sc. – one of the world's top researchers in the field of human genetics, behavior and neuropsychiatric diseases – has been named Endowed Chair in Behavioral Genomics by the Department of Psychiatry and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.

Tsuang is a Distinguished University Professor of Psychiatry, Director of the UCSD Center of Behavioral Genomics and Director of the Harvard Institute of Psychiatric Epidemiology and Genetics. He has been on the faculty of UCSD since 2003.

Under Tsuang's direction, the Center for Behavioral Genomics has developed research projects that span the full spectrum of genetics, from basic research to clinical research studies with patients and their families.

“Dr. Tsuang's ultimate goal is to help prevent psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia and other mental illnesses before their onset, and to identify traits that might predispose a person to developing this type of devastating illness, either because of genetic or environmental causes,” said Lewis L. Judd, M.D., Mary Gilman Marston Professor and Chair of UCSD's Department of Psychiatry. “His appointment to this Chair will ensure that Dr. Tsuang's research will continue to ease the suffering inflicted by mental illness, as well as facilitate his teaching and mentoring of scientists in this field for a long time to come.”

Tsuang received his medical degree from National Taiwan University, and his Ph.D. and Doctor of Science degrees in Psychiatric Epidemiology and Genetics from the University of London. He held academic posts at the University of Iowa, Brown University and was Stanley Cobb Professor of Psychiatry and Chair of the Harvard Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Harvard Medical School, prior to coming to UCSD.

He is recognized worldwide for his research in schizophrenia, bipolar disease and substance abuse. One of his major areas of interest has been the interactions between genetic and environmental risk factors. He is currently completing the largest-ever genetic linkage studies of schizophrenia, involving nearly 800 families, and heroin addiction, with more than 1,000 families.

Tsuang is the recipient of many awards, including the Stanley Dean Award for Research in Schizophrenia, the National Institute of Mental Health Merit Award, the Noyes Award for Research in Schizophrenia, the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression Distinguished Investigator Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics, the Taiwanese-American Award for Achievement in Science and Engineering, and the Gold Medal Award from the Society of Biological Psychiatry for his pioneering contributions in the field of biological psychiatry.
He is a member of the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences. He has served on the National Advisory Mental Health Council, Department of Health and Human Services. He has been elected Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, the American College of Psychiatrists, and British Royal Society of Psychiatrists; Fellow and President of the American Psychopathological Association; Council Member of the Taiwan National Health Research Institute; and Academician, Academia Sinica of Taiwan, the highest academic institution in Taiwan.

Tsuang has authored or co-authored nearly 600 publications. In addition to serving on many editorial boards of scientific journals, he is currently the senior editor for Neuropsychiatric Genetics, a section of the American Journal of Medical Genetics and President of the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics.

Media Contact: Debra Kain ( 619-543-6163 )