The Department of Psychopharmacology was created towards the end of 1983.
The Department presently has two faculty members on its rolls:
1. Dr Chittaranjan Andrade, Professor & Head
2. Dr Srinivas Bharath MM, Professor
There is one vacant faculty position that is expected to be filled, shortly.
The Department engages in research in the following fields:
1. Electroconvulsive therapy
2. Transcranial direct current stimulation
3. Modern medicinal drugs
4. Herbal psychotropic agents
Research in the above fields includes human as well as animal studies. However, the Department is making a shift towards exclusive clinical research in collaboration with the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology.
1. Human studies include investigations of efficacy, adverse effects, mechanisms, psychological issues, social issues, and related disciplines within the broad fields listed.
2. Animal studies are mostly behavioral in nature but have recently included histopathological investigations, as well.
The Department conducts independent research but is also involved in a large number of research collaborations with other departments at NIMHANS, and with other institutes in the city and country. The Department has had international collaborations, as well.
The Department has a PhD program that is supported by external fellowships.
The Department accepts students under posting from other departments at NIMHANS and from other institutes in the city and country. Such students may have the opportunity to do projects under the guidance of faculty members in the Department.
The Department also conducts lectures, seminars, workshops, and symposia across the country on subjects ranging from clinical psychopharmacology to brain stimulation to applied statistics and research methodology. The target audience comprises postgraduate students, academic psychiatrists, and practising psychiatrists. On average, the Department conducts about 50 such programs a year.
The Department produces a free e-newsletter on psychiatry and the related neurological, psychological, and medical sciences. This newsletter was started in the year 2001 and appears about 120-150 times a year; it is read across the globe. To receive this e-newsletter, send a blank email to synergytimes-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and follow the instructions in the return email from yahoogroups.com.
The Department also runs an e-Journal Club for postgraduate students in psychiatry and academic psychiatrists across the country. This journal club was started in the year 2014; it conducts about 50-75 activities per year. To enrol in eJCIndia, send a blank email to eJCIndia-subscribe@yahoogroups.com and follow the instructions in the return email from yahoogroups.
The research and training conducted by the Department and the achievements of the Department can be gleaned through a persual of the CVs of the faculty of the Department.