Biography

David Pickar, M.D., is Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins Medical School and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.  Dr. Pickar has served on the Psychiatry Drug Advisory Committee for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 2014-2018.  He is Fellow Emeritus of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and is Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.   

Dr. Pickar served in the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for over 20 years where he was the Chief of the Experimental Therapeutics Branch dedicated to studying schizophrenia and psychosis.  Dr. Pickar’s work revealing the therapeutic effects of alpha2 antagonist adjunctive treatment for schizophrenia is currently in clinical development.  Dr. Pickar participates in neuropsychiatric drug development with emerging biotechnology companies. 

Dr. Pickar served as Chair of the Tenure and Promotion Committee in Intramural NIMH and received numerous honors and awards in the course of his career, including the Judith Silver Memorial Young Scientist Award of the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI), the AE Bennett Neuropsychiatric Research Award of the Society of Biological Psychiatry and the Meritorious Service Medal for Exemplary Performance of Duty from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He has served as NIMH Consultant to the U.S. Secret Service and on the Scientific Advisory Committee of the American Foundation for AIDS Research.   

 Dr. Pickar is founder and President of Gabriel Sciences, a company whose mission is advancing the development of a novel treatment for schizophrenia.  Dr. Pickar was also co-founder of Comprehensive Neuroscience, Inc a clinical trials and medical communication company where he served as a Director, Executive Vice-President and Chief Science Officer. 

 Per Google Scholar, Dr. Pickar has authored or co-authored over 400 publications and with over 27,000 citations and an h-index of 86.

Dr. Pickar is the Producer of the documentary film, The Realities of Serious Mental Illness.  Dr. Pickar practices psychiatry in Chevy Chase, Maryland with emphasis on the care of seriously mentally ill patients and select forensic matters.  Dr. Pickar provides psychiatric services for Mobile Med a not for profit provider of care to a majority of minority and some of the most vulnerable patients in Montgomery County, Maryland.  Dr. Pickar has served as psychiatric consultant to the US Special Prosecutor. 

Dr. Pickar is a 1969 graduate of Rutgers College with Phi Beta Kappa distinction and Varsity Letter in Lacrosse.  He received his medical degree from Yale University School of Medicine in 1973.  After completing his residency in psychiatry at Yale in 1977, Dr. Pickar joined the NIMH as a Commissioned Officer of the United States Public Health Service from where he retired as Captain (0-6) USPHS in 2000.