Education, a key component of the Department of Psychiatry’s mission, includes providing exceptional training for clinical psychiatrists. For some, clinical training is enhanced by exposure to neuroscience research. We spoke with three of our former residents, Drs. Joseph Pierri, Michael Diamond and Christopher Kye, to learn how foundations in basic neuroscience and academic research have enhanced their careers in clinical practice.

 

A NEURAL CIRCUITRY POINT OF VIEW

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Christopher Kye, MD, earned his medical degree at Northwestern University, and received a fellowship from the National Institutes of Health to conduct basic neuroscience research in single neuron electrophysiology. During his residency at WPH he became interested in affective disorders, and conducted clinical research in child depression under the mentorship of Dr. Neal Ryan, followed by research training on the postnatal maturation of neural circuitry in the primate prefrontal cortex in the lab of Dr. David Lewis. Dr. Kye describes the experience as a “beautiful way to do translational neuroscience on a small level, and to see it from a neural circuitry point of view.”

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Today, Dr. Kye runs a private clinical practice, and his patients are primarily children with autism. He explains unequivocally that his background in neuroscience research training provided him greater and more nuanced understanding of the brain and its functions, allowing him to help people that he otherwise might not have been able to treat successfully. “I wouldn’t be anywhere close to my clinical skillset if not for having been exposed to basic science,” he says. “There’s no mandate for neuroscience in medical school, but it has been invaluable for me to understand, for example, what an antipsychotic drug does to the cerebral cortex over time.” 

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For Dr. Kye, one of the most rewarding aspects of his neuroscience training is the improved ability to help even—and especially—the most challenging patients who have not responded to other treatments. For example, he notes that frequently, children are prescribed medications, such as SSRIs, that inhibit sleep. However, a psychiatrist who understands the neural circuitry of the developing brain has more confidence adjusting medication to allow children more deep sleep. “You have to improve the neural circuitry function before the therapy can help,” he explains. 

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“I would not be the clinician I am today if I hadn’t acquired a neuroscience background,” he explains. “I’ve helped change lives that I wouldn’t have been able to if it wasn’t for my experience in the lab.”