| Birth Date: | November 16, 1970 |
| Birth Place: | New York City, United States |
| Alma Mater: | University of California Harvard University |
| Work Institution: | National Institute of Mental Health Emory University |
| Known For: | Research on oxytocin and vasopressin, as well as their impact on social behavior |
Joshua A. Gordon is an American neuroscientist and psychiatrist who served as the Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) from 2016 to June 2024.[1] He is also a senior in the Adult Psychiatry Residency Program at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) and the New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI).[2]
Joshua A. Gordon was born in 1970 in New York City. He earned his bachelor's degree in biology from Harvard University in 1991. He then pursued his medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), graduating in 1997.
Gordon obtained a doctorate in neuroscience from UCSF in 2000. His studies were about neural origins of anxiety disorders. He later served as a faculty member at Columbia University and the University of Washington, continuing with his focus on the neurobiology of mental illnesses.[3]
In 2016, Gordon was appointed as Director of NIMH to replace Thomas Insel. He oversees the research agenda for NIMH which aims at providing understanding and solutions to different forms of mental illnesses including depression, anxiety and schizophrenia.
Gordon's studies have helped in understanding the neurobiological factors contributing to anxiety and depression.[4] He has utilized various techniques such as optogenetics and modeling to examine the neural pathways involved in these disorders.[5] [6] He has campaigned for more financial resources for mental health investigations and has been an activist against the social isolation of people with mental health problems.[7] [8] [9]