Ellen Leibenluft, M.D. is Senior Investigator and Chief of the Section on Bipolar Spectrum Disorders in the Emotion and Development Branch, Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health. Dr.Leibenluft studies the brain mechanisms mediating bipolar disorder and severe irritability in youth. She has demonstrated that children with bipolar disorder and those at familial risk for the disorder have deficits processing emotional stimuli, and has begun to elucidate the relevant brain mechanisms. Dr.Leibenluft has also identified differences in clinical course and brain function between youth with bipolar disorder and those with severe, non-episodic irritability.
Dr. Leibenluft completed her B.A. from Yale University summa cum laude, her M.D. from Stanford University, and residency training at Georgetown University. Since 1989, she has been conducting research at the NIMH on bipolar disorder. She has authored approximately 180 publications and is a Deputy Editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Psychiatry, Biological Psychiatry, Bipolar Disorders, Depression and Anxiety, and the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology; and a member of the Advisory Board of the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
Dr. Leibenluft is a member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and the American Psychiatric Association Work Group on Childhood Disorders for DSM-V. Her awards include the Distinguished Psychiatrist Award of the American Psychiatric Association; the American Psychiatric Association Blanche Ittelson Award for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; Special Service Awards from the NIH; NIMH and NIH Outstanding Mentor Awards; the Litchfield Lectureship at Oxford University; and the Michael Rutter lectureship of the Royal College of Psychiatrists.