Fabio Ferrarelli, MD, PhD

Professor of Psychiatry

Current Appointments

  • Director, Sleep and Schizophrenia Program

Areas of Expertise

  • Psychosis
  • Mood Disorders
  • Anxiety, OCD & Trauma Disorders
  • Children & Adolescents
  • Sleep & Circadian Health
  • Neuromodulation
Fabio Ferrarelli, MD, PhD
Expertise & Interests Selected Publications Education & Credentials Related News

Expertise & Interests

Research Interests

Biomarkers of schizophrenia and bipolar disorders; Sleep oscillations (EEG); Neuromodulation (TMS, TBS, tFUS)

Clinical Interests

Early course psychosis; Sleep disturbances in psychiatric disorders; Interventional psychiatry

Education Interests

Research mentorship; Medical student & resident education

Selected Publications

  1. Castelnovo A, D'Agostino A, Mayeli A, Albantakis L, Tononi G, Ferrarelli F. Sleep spindle abnormalities as neurophysiological biomarkers of Schizophrenia spectrum disorders: From cellular mechanisms and neural circuits to clinical implications. Biol Psychiatry. 2025 Jun 25: S0006-3223(25)01274-0. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2025.06.014. Online ahead of print.
  2. Keihani A, Donati FL, Janssen SA, Huston CA, Moon CH, Hetherington HP, Wilson JD, Mayeli A, Ferrarelli F. Multimodal evidence of mediodorsal thalamus-prefrontal circuit dysfunctions in clinical high-risk for psychosis: findings from a combined 7T fMRI, MRSI and sleep Hd-EEG study. Mol Psychiatry. 2025 Aug;30(8):3384-3392. doi: 10.1038/s41380-025-02924-2. Epub 2025 Feb 15.
  3. Donati FL, Mayeli A, Nascimento Couto BA, Sharma K, Janssen S, Krafty RJ, Casali AG, Ferrarelli F. Prefrontal oscillatory slowing in early-course schizophrenia Is associated with worse cognitive performance and negative Symptoms: A Transcranial magnetic stimulation-electroencephalography study. Biol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging. 2025 Feb;10(2):158-166. doi: 10.1016/j.bpsc.2024.07.013. Epub 2024 Jul 25.
  4. Mayeli A, LaGoy AD, Smagula SF, Wilson JD, Zarbo C, Rocchetti M, Starace F, Zamparini M, Casiraghi L, Calza S, Rota M, D'Agostino A, de Girolamo G; DiAPAson Consortium; Ferrarelli F. Shared and distinct abnormalities in sleep-wake patterns and their relationship with the negative symptoms of schizophrenia spectrum disorder patients. Mol Psychiatry. 2023 May;28(5):2049-2057. doi: 10.1038/s41380-023-02050-x. Epub 2023 Apr 14. PMID: 37055512
  5. Bagautdinova J, Mayeli A, Wilson JD, Donati FL, Colacot RM, Meyer N, Fusar-Poli P, Ferrarelli F. Sleep abnormalities in different clinical stages of psychosis: A systematic review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Psychiatry. 2023 Mar 1;80(3):202-210. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.4599. PMID: 36652243
  6. Mayeli A, Donati F, Ferrarelli F (2024): Altered sleep oscillations as neurophysiological biomarkers of schizophrenia. Adv. Neurobiology, Vol. 40, Daniel Javitt and James McPartland (Eds): Neurophysiologic Biomarkers in Neuropsychiatric Disorders.
  7. DAgostino A, Castelnovo A, Ferrarelli F (2022): Sleep and schizophrenia. In Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine, 7th Edition, by Kryger & Roth & Dement. Elsevier editor.
  8. Ferrarelli F & Tononi G (2020): Sleep oscillations and psychiatric disorders. In Dang-Vu & Courtemanche (Eds.) Neuronal oscillations of Wakefulness and Sleep (chapter 10). Springer Science+Business.
  9. Kaskie RE, Ferrarelli F. Investigating the neurobiology of schizophrenia and other major psychiatric disorders with transcranial magnetic stimulation. Schizophr Res. 2017 May 3. PMID: 28478887
  10. Sprecher KE, Ferrarelli F, Benca RM. Sleep and plasticity in schizophrenia. Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2015; 25: 433-58. PMID: 25608723

Education & Credentials

Education & Training

Education
MD, Catholic University of Sacred Heart, School of Medicine
Education
PhD, Neuroscience, Catholic University of Sacred Heart
Residency
Psychiatry, Western Psychiatry Institute and Clinic of UPMC
Postdoctoral
Neuroscience, University of Wisconsin, Madison

Selected Honors & Awards

  • Outstanding Resident Award, National Institute of Mental Health
  • Rising Star Award, Pittsburgh Foundation

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