Paolo Brambilla (born 16 May 1972) is an Italian medical doctor, child and adult psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychoanalyst in training. He is recognized for his contributions to psychiatry and neuroscience, particularly in mood and anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, developmental psychopathology, and neuroimaging.
Paolo Brambilla graduated with a degree in medicine and surgery (M.D.) from the University of Milan, Italy, in 1997. He subsequently pursued specialization in psychiatry at the University of Pavia, Italy, graduating in 2001. He completed his Ph.D. in neuropharmacology and neurophysiology at the University of Genova, Italy, in 2005, focusing on the effects of lithium on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in patients with bipolar disorder.
Brambilla has held research fellowships at the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research in Milan, the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh, and the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Texas at San Antonio. His research during this period integrated magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies with clinical neuropsychology and psychopharmacology investigations, particularly in mood disorders.
From 2004 to 2015, Brambilla served as assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Udine, Italy, where he founded the Inter-University Center for Behavioral Neurosciences (ICBN), a research consortium between the Universities of Udine and Verona. He concurrently held positions as an attending psychiatrist at the University Hospital of Udine and as a child and adolescent psychiatrist consultant at the Neuropsychiatric Rehabilitation Institute "La Nostra Famiglia" Association in Udine.
In 2015, Brambilla was appointed associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Milan, Italy, and subsequently attained the rank of full professor in 2021.[1] He has been serving as the director of the Department of Mental Health at Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico in Milan since 2018, overseeing clinical operations and research initiatives in psychiatric care.
Brambilla holds several academic positions, including program director of the bachelor degree in Professional Educator and director of the School of Residency in Psychiatry at the University of Milan. He is actively involved in numerous professional organizations, serving as co-chair of the European Psychiatric Association (EPA) Neuroimaging Section and the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) Neuroimaging Network. Since 2022, Brambilla has served as a councilor on the Executive Committee of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP).[2]
Brambilla has authored or co-authored more than 400 papers published in over 70 different international peer-reviewed journals across various disciplines.[3] He is Co-Editor in Chief of Journal of Affective Disorders Reports and Editor-in-Chief of Minerva Psychiatry.[4]