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Dr. Andrew Smith is a Research Scientist in the Clinical Research Division and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at NYU,
My overarching scientific goal is to reduce the need for trial-and-error based decisions in psychiatric care. To that end, my NIH NRSA-funded graduate work pinpointed novel genomic biomarkers of treatment-response. I brought together a multi-institutional team of addiction psychiatry and pain medicine investigators, successfully identifying and replicating OPRM1 genetic markers associated with opioid agonist dose requirements (Smith et al., Mol Psych 2017). In a different study, I integrated computational and molecular analyses to establish causal effects of neurotrophin receptor polymorphisms on severity of alcohol withdrawal symptoms (Smith et al., ACER 2018). Having studied how a fixed genome lays the groundwork for each patient’s treatment needs, I now use circuit-level experimental paradigms to track clinically relevant brain features over time. Specifically, I have helped show how circuits respond to pulses of stimulation (Smith et al., SOBP 2020), and confirm which targets are best for amelioration of compulsivity (Smith et al., Brain Stim 2021). My current work, funded by a NIMH K23 CDA, pairs computational modeling with intracranial recordings in psychiatric patients, aiming to reveal the mechanisms by which circuit dysfunctions mediate clinical symptoms. Combining expertise in data-intensive research methodologies with skills in the emerging field of interventional psychiatry, I am optimally positioned to help advance individualized treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders.