Susanne E Ahmari, MD, PhD

Associate Professor of Psychiatry

Areas of Expertise

  • Mood Disorders
  • Anxiety, OCD & Trauma Disorders
  • Basic & Translational Neuroscience
Susanne E Ahmari, MD, PhD
Expertise & Interests Selected Publications Education & Credentials Related News

Expertise & Interests

Research Interests

Cortico-striatal circuit abnormalities; OCD; Cell/circuit mechanisms; negative reinforcement; Human post-mortem studies; synaptic abnormalities

Clinical Interests

Obsessive compulsive disorder and related disorder; Evaluation of appropriateness for DBS

Education Interests

Research mentorship; Medical/graduate student & resident education; Combatting research racial and ethnic disparities

Selected Publications

  1. Corbit VL, Piantadosi SC, Wood J, Madireddy SS, Choi CJY, Witten IB, Gittis AH & *Ahmari SE. (2025) Dissociable roles of central striatum and anterior lateral motor area in initiating and sustaining naturalistic behavior. Cell Reports. 4:115181. PMID: 39786992.
  2. Piantadosi SC, Manning EE, Chamberlain BL, Hyde J, LaPalombara Z, Bannon NM, Pierson JL, Namboodiri VMK & *Ahmari SE. (2024) Hyperactivity of indirect pathway-projecting spiny projection neurons promotes compulsive behavior. Nature Communications. 15 (1): 4434. PMID: 38789416.
  3. Manning EE, Geramita MA, Piantadosi SC & *Ahmari SE. (2023) Distinct patterns of abnormal lateral orbitofrontal cortex activity during compulsive grooming and reversal learning normalize after fluoxetine. Biological Psychiatry. 93 (11): 989-999. PMID: 35094880.
  4. Price RB, Gillan CM, Hanlon C, Ferrarelli F, Kim T, Karim HT, Renard M, Kaskie R, Degutis M, Wears A, Vienneau EP, Peterchev AV, Brown V, Siegle GJ, Wallace M & *Ahmari SE. (2021) Effect of experimental manipulation of the OFC on short-term markers of compulsive behavior: A theta-burst stimulation study. American Journal of Psychiatry. 178(5): 459-468. PMID: 33726523.
  5. Piantadosi SC, Chamberlain BL, Glausier JR, Lewis DA & *Ahmari SE. (2021) Lower excitatory synaptic gene expression in orbitofrontal cortex and striatum in an initial study of subjects with obsessive compulsive disorder. Molecular Psychiatry. Mar;26(3):986-98. PMID: 31168067

Education & Credentials

Education & Training

Education
MD, Stanford University
Education
PhD, Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University
Residency
Psychiatry, Columbia University
Postdoctoral
Anxiety and Affective Disorders, Columbia University

Professional Affiliations

  • Associate Member, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
  • Member, Society for Neuroscience

Selected Honors & Awards

  • A.E. Bennett Research Award, Society of Biological Psychiatry
  • Fellowship Award in the Neurosciences, Klingenstein-Simons Foundation
  • Emerging Female Scientist Award, Carnegie Science Center
  • McKnight Scholar Award, McKnight Endowment Fund for Neuroscience
  • Rising Star Award, Pittsburgh Foundation
  • Career Award for Medical Scientists, Burroughs Wellcome Fund

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