06/19/2015
Research Team Member:
Sanjaya Saxena, M.D. is Professor in Residence in the UCSD Department of Psychiatry. Additionally, he is the Director of the UCSD Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Program and the VA San Diego Anxiety Disorders Clinic. His research focuses on the neurobiology and treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related disorders. He and his research team use functional brain imaging to understand the brain circuits and systems that mediate OCD symptoms, to reveal how effective treatments work in the brain, and to predict response to various types of treatments. Recently, Dr. Saxena has been studying specific subtypes and variants of OCD such as Compulsive Hoarding and Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD), to understand their neurobiology and develop better treatments for these disabling conditions. He has authored or co-authored over 50 scientific articles and book chapters and has presented his work at many major national and international scientific meetings. He has received awards and grants from the American Psychiatric Association, American Neuropsychiatric Association, National Institute of Mental Health, and the Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation. Dr. Saxena serves on the Scientific Advisory Board for the Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation and is a consultant to the DSM-V Workgroup on Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders. His research has garnered attention from local and national media, and he has been featured on ABC, CNN, MSNBC, the Discovery Channel, National Public Radio, BBC News, the New York Times, Boston Globe, USA Today, Washington Times, Time Magazine, Discover Magazine, Reader's Digest, and many local TV news programs. Dr. Saxena was elected into Best Doctors in America in 2005, 2007, and 2009, was elected into America’s Top Doctors in 2008. Dr. Saxena is also heavily involved in teaching psychiatric residents and medical students at UCSD. In 2007, he won the UCSD Department of Psychiatry Faculty Teaching Award. He is also active in community education, giving many presentations for local, national, and international medical and mental health groups. Dr. Saxena also served as the psychiatric consultant for the motion picture, “As Good As It Gets” (Sony Pictures, 1997), in which the lead character, played by Jack Nicholson, suffered from OCD.
