Kathleen Merikangas

Kathleen Ries Merikangas is the Chief of the Genetic Epidemiology Research Branch in the Intramural Research Program at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and an adjunct professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She has published more than 800 papers, and is best known for her work in adolescent mental disorders. Merikangas earned her bachelor's degree summa cum laude in experimental psychology and music from University of Notre Dame in 1973.

She received her master's degree from University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, which was sponsored by National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. During this time, she did her clinical training and internship at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

She earned her Ph.D. in chronic disease epidemiology from University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health in 1981, focusing on conducting clinical research on the affective disorders. She left Yale in 2003.

After joining NIMH after leaving Yale, Merikangas conducted large scale survey-based studies including the first nationally representative study of adolescent mental disorders. Her 2011 study on shyness and social phobia of American teenagers attracted huge media attention. Other areas of focus include eating disorders, bipolar disorder, suicidal behaviors, and substance abuse in adolescents.

Awards and honors

2017: Rema Lapouse Award for Achievement in Epidemiology, Mental Health and Applied Public Health Statistics 2015: Paul Hoch Award for Career Contribution to Research in Psychopathology Association 2015: NIMH IRP Outstanding Mentor Award