Department of Clinical Psychopharmacology and Neurotoxicology
About the Department
The Department was established as the Department of Psychopharmacology towards the end of 1983. The Department was renamed as the Department of Clinical Psychopharmacology and Neurotoxicology following the amalgamation of the Neurotoxicology laboratory in the Neurobiology Research Centre with the original Department, in late 2018.
The Department offices and laboratories are situated on the second floor of the Administrative Block of NIMHANS and on the second floor of the Neurobiology Research Centre.
The Department presently has the following faculty members and scientific staff:
- Dr. Chittaranjan Andrade (Psychopharmacology)-Senior Professor and Dean (Basic Sciences)
- Dr. M.M. Srinivas Bharath (Neurotoxicology)-Professor and Head
- Dr. Priyamvada Sharma (Drug Toxicology)-Assistant Professor
- Dr. Phalguni Anand Alladi (Neurotoxicology)-Scientist-F
- Dr. Rugmani Meenambal (Nanomaterials and Neuroscience)-DST Inspire Faculty
There is one vacant faculty position (Psychopharmacology) that is expected to be filled shortly.
The Department conducts research in the following fields:
Psychopharmacology: Biological, neuropsychological, and psychosocial issues related to electroconvulsive therapy, transcranial direct current stimulation, ketamine and other modern medicinal drugs, and herbal psychotropic agents. Whereas the psychopharmacology faculty were formerly also involved in basic science research, the current thrust is on clinical research in the listed fields.
Neurotoxicology:
- Basic Neurotoxicology: Animal models to understand neurotoxicology and CNS disease pathogenesis, cellular models of CNS disease pathogenesis and neurotoxicology, redox and mitochondrial dynamics in brain and muscle in health and disease
- Clinical Toxicology: Drug toxicology, substance abuse toxicity, environmental toxicity, metal toxicity, alcohol toxicity
Academic programs:
The Department conducts educational programs for postgraduate students and mental health professionals on subjects ranging from clinical psychopharmacology to brain stimulation to applied statistics and research methodology. The Department produces a free e-newsletter on psychiatry and the related neurological, psychological, and medical sciences. The Department also runs an e-Journal Club for postgraduate psychiatry students and academic psychiatrists across the country.