July 3, 2019
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Dr. K. Luan Phan is now leading the mental and behavioral health services at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. He has been appointed professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health and chief of psychiatry services for the health system.
Nationally recognized for patient-oriented translational research, Phan leverages affective and cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychopharmacology to improve the understanding and treatment of anxiety, addiction and mood disorders.
His research has been consistently funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) over the past 15 years. He’s principal investigator on several active major NIH grants and a VA Merit Award.
“We know that mental health and addiction are among the top health issues affecting central Ohio and the nation. Dr. Phan is an innovative and experienced leader who will invigorate our psychiatry and behavioral health programs, improving the outcomes of patients who are struggling with mental health problems and addiction,” said Dr. K. Craig Kent, dean of the Ohio State College of Medicine. "Dr. Phan is the type of leader who can take our program to be best in class in the nation."
Phan comes to Ohio State from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he held numerous leadership positions, including co-director of UIC’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science, vice chair of Clinical Services, associate head of Clinical and Translational Research and director of the Anxiety, Mood and Addiction Research Collaborative, a multi-disciplinary collective of nine principal investigators funded by the NIH. He also was chief of Neuropsychiatric Research at the Jesse Brown VA Medical Center in Chicago.“I’m committed to working alongside our talented and dedicated faculty, trainees and staff in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health to deliver the right treatment, at the right place and at the right time,” said Phan, who holds the Charles F. Sinsabaugh Chair in Psychiatry at Ohio State. “We’ll conduct cutting-edge research that helps us better understand and treat mental illness. We’ll partner with our colleagues at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Ohio State’s Neurological Institute, along with our communities, to further these goals and to focus and invest our energy toward improving mental health.”
Phan earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan and completed his internship in medicine and psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh. He did his residency and research fellowship in adult psychiatry at the University of Michigan.
He has more than 230 peer-reviewed publications, many in prestigious, high-impact journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Biological Psychiatry and JAMA Psychiatry, and his work has been cited more than 21,000 times.
Phan has served as editor for several journals, as a peer reviewer on numerous study sections and as an ad hoc member of the Board of Scientific Counselors at two NIH institutes. He’s been a member of both the Scientific Council of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America and the Program Committee of the Society of Biological Psychiatry. He’s an elected fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.
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Media Contact: Eileen Scahill, Wexner Medical Center Media Relations, 614-293-3737,Eileen.Scahill@osumc.edu