Prof. Michael E. Thase, M.D.

Biography

Dr. Michael E. Thase is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania (Penn), where he is a member of the medical staffs of Penn Hospital and the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, as well as the Director of Penn Psychiatry’s Mood and Anxiety Section.

A 1979 graduate of the Ohio State University College of Medicine, he completed an internship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and residency, chief residency, and post-doctoral training in clinical research at UPMC’s Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. Joining the faculty of the UPMC Department of Psychiatry in 1983, he was professor of Psychiatry and Chief of the Division of Academic Adult Psychiatry when he moved to Philadelphia in 2007.

Board-certified in General Adult Psychiatry and a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, Dr. Thase is renowned as a teacher, mentor, administrator, researcher, and clinician. He has been elected to the membership of the American College of Psychiatrists and Penn Medicine’s Academy of Master Clinicians. He has also been elected as first a member and then a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He is a past President and a member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology, a Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, and a member of advisory boards for the Anxiety and Depressive Disorders Association, the National Network of Depression Centers, the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

One of the world’s most cited psychiatrists, Dr. Thase’s 900+ scholarly papers include a number of citation classics. The award-winning Learning Cognitive Therapy is among the 18 books he has authored, coauthored, or coedited. His research has been continuously funded since the mid-1980s and currently focuses on novel pharmacotherapies for depressive disorders, and dissemination and implementation of cost-effective forms of cognitive behavior therapy.