Dr. Belmaker received his BA from Harvard College in 1967 and his MD from Duke Medical School in 1971. From 1972-74 he was a Clinical Associate at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, MD. Since 1974 he has held positions in academic psychiatry in Israel, first at the Jerusalem Mental Health Center 1974-1984 and then at Ben Gurion University of the Negev 1985 to the present.
Dr. Belmaker was a pioneer in biological psychiatry in Israel, and chaired the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP) meeting in Jerusalem in 1982. His research interests include affective disorders, especially mania, ECT, and second messenger mechanisms. In 1993 he submitted a grant request to National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression proposing that TMS could be therapeutically useful in psychiatry, and was awarded the prestigious Distinguished Investigator Award to pursue this hypothesis. He has received the Anna Monika Prize for Research in Depression (1983), the Ziskind-Somerfeld Prize for Senior Research in Psychiatry (1993) and the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Lilly Research Award (1996), and the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression Lifetime Achievement Falcone Award for research in affective disorder (2000) and the Research Prize of the World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry (2004).
He is President of the CINP (International College of Neuropsychopharmacology). Husband of over 40 years, father of six children and grandfather of four and counting, Dr. Belmaker is an avid amateur archaeologist in Israel and scuba diver.