Dr.Strakowski's webpage is here

Dr. Strakowski is the director of the Center for Imaging Research at the University of Cincinnati. He is currently a Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience at the UC College of Medicine. Dr. Strakowski graduated summa cum laude with a B.S.E. From the University of Notre Dame in 1984, and Alpha Omega Alpha from the Vanderbilt School of Medicine in 1988. In 1992, he completed his residency at the McLean Hospital/Harvard University School of Medicine, and moved to the University of Cincinnati as an Assistant Professor. He was later promoted to the position of professor and serves as the director of the Bipolar and Psychotic Disorders Research Program at the UC College of Medicine. This research program uses fMRI, neurocognitive measures, longitudinal outcome and treatment methods to study the neurophysiology and course of bipolar disorder.

Dr. Strakowski is supported by NIDA, NIMH, the Stanley Research Foundation (NAMI), NARSAD, and several pharmaceutical companies. He also serves on NIMH and VA federal grant review subcommittees and serves as a reviewer for many major psychiatric journals. Dr. Strakowski has received a number of awards, including the Gerald L. Kerman Award from the NDMDA. He has written over 100 peer-reviewed publications and a number of solicited reviews, chapters, and published abstracts.

Research Interests

Dr. Strakowski's major research interests include substance abuse comorbidity and outcome of new-onset psychosis; behavioral sensitization as a model for psychiatric disorders, and the influence of ethnicity on diagnosis of psychosis. He also studies the neurophysiology of bipolar disorder using MRI and fMRI.

Current Research Projects

Longitudinal Neuroimaging in Bipolar Disorder

The goal of this study is to define the development and progression of abnormalities within the anterior limbic network in adolescents and young adults with first episode mania in order to better define the neurophysiologic substrates of bipolar disorder.

Selected Journal Publications

  • Strakowski SM,DelBello MP, Adler CM, Keck PE, Jr. Atypical antipsychotics in the treatment of bipolar disorder. Exp Op Pharmacotherapy 2003, 4:751-760.
  • Getz GE, Shear PK, Strakowski SM. Facial affect recognition deficits in bipolar disorder. JINS 2003; 9:623-632.
  • DelBello MP, Carlson GA, Tohen M, Bromet EJ, Schwiers M, Strakowski SM. Rates and predictors of developing a manic or hypomanic episode 1 to 2 years following a first hospitalization for major depression with psychotic features. J Child Adol Psychopharmacol 2003; 13:173-185.
  • Strakowski SM, Keck PE Jr., Arnold LM, Collins J, Wilson R, Fleck DE, Corey KB, Amicone J, Adebimpe VR. Ethnicity and diagnosis in patients with affective psychoses. J Clin Psychiatry 2003; 64:747-754.
  • Fleck DE, Shear PK, Zimmerman ME, Getz GE, Corey KB, Jak A, Lebowitz BK, Strakowski SM. Verbal memory in mania: Effects of clinical state and task requirements. Bipolar Disorders, 2003; 5: 375-380.
  • Tohen M, Zarate CA Jr., Hennen J, Kaurkhalsa HM, Strakowski SM, Gebre-Medhin P, Salvatore P, Baldessarini RJ. The McLean-Harvard First-Episode Mania Study: Prediction of recovery and first recurrence. Am J Psychiatry 2003; 160:2099-2107.
  • Cecil KM, DelBello MP, Sellars MC, Strakowski SM. Proton MR spectroscopy of the frontal lobe and cerebellar vermis in children with mood disorder and a familial risk for bipolar disorders. J Child Adol Psychopharmacology 2003; 13:545-555.
  • DelBello MP, Zimmerman ME, Mills NP, Getz GE, Strakowski SM. Magnetic resonance imaging analysis of amygdala and other subcortical brain regions in adolescents with bipolar disorder. Bipolar Disorder 2004; 6:43-52.
  • Arnold LM, Keck PE Jr., Collins J, Wilson R, Fleck DE, Corey KB, Amicone J, Adbimpe VR, Strakowski SM. Ethnicity and first-rank symptoms in patients with psychosis. Schizophrenia Research 2004; 67:207-212.
  • Adler CM, Holland SK, Schmithorst V, Tuchfarber MJ, Strakowski SM. Changes in neuronal activation in patients with bipolar disorder during performance of a working memory task. Bipolar Disorders, 2004; 6:1-11
  • Arnold LM, Strakowski SM, Schwiers ML, Amicone J, Fleck DE, Corey KB, Farrow JE. Sex, ethnicity, and antipsychotic medication use in patients with psychosis. Schizophrenia Research 2004; 66:169-175.
  • Green AI, Tohen MF, Hamer RM, Strakowski SM, Lieberman JA, Glick I, Clark WS, and HGDH Research Group. First episode schizophrenia-related psychosis and substance use disorders: acute response to olanzapine and haloperidol. Schizophrenia Res 2004; 66:125-135.
  • Adler CM, Holland SK, Schmithorst V, Wilke M, Weiss K, Pan H, Strakowski SM. Abnormal frontal white matter tracts in bipolar disorder: A diffusion tensor imaging study. Bipolar Disorders 2004; 6:197-203.
  • Strakowski SM, DelBello MP, Adler CM. The functional neuroanatomy of bipolar disorder: a review of neuroimaging findings. Molecular Psychiatry 2005; 10:105-116.
  • DelBello MP, Adler CM, Strakowski SM. Divalproex for the treatment of aggression associated with adolescent mania. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology 2004; 14:325-328.
  • Strakowski SM, Adler CM, Holland SK, Mills NP, DelBello MP. A preliminary fMRI study of sustained attention in unmedicated, euthymic bipolar disorder. Neuropsychopharmacology 2004; 29:1734-1740.
  • DelBello MP, Adler CM, Amicone J, Warner J, Shear PK, Mills N, Strakowski SM. Parametric neurocognitive task design: A pilot study of a task of sustained attention in adolescents with bipolar disorder. J Affect Disord, 2004; 82:S79-88.
  • Barzman DH, DelBello MP, Kowatch RA, Gernert B, Fleck DE, Pathak S, Rappaport K, Delgado SV, Campbell P, Strakowski SM.
  • The effectiveness and tolerability of aripiprazole for pediatric bipolar disorders: A retrospective chart review. J Child Adol Psychophamacol, 2004; 14:593-60
  • Fleck DE, Shear PK, Strakowski SM. Processing efficiency and sustained attention in bipolar disorder. J Int Neuropsychol Soc, 2005; 11:49-57
  • Fleck DE, Keck PE Jr, Corey KB, Strakowski SM. Factors Associated With Medication Adherence in African American and White Patients With Bipolar Disorder. J Clin Psychiatry, 2005; 66:646-652.
  • Adler CM, Levine AD, Delbello MP, Strakowski SM. Changes in Gray Matter Volume in Patients with Bipolar Disorder. Biol Psychiatry, 2005.
  • Strakowski SM, Johnson JL, DelBello MP, Hamer RM, Green AI, Tohen M, Lieberman JA, Glick I, Patel JK; HGDH Research Group. Quality of life during treatment with haloperidol or olanzapine in the year following a first psychotic episode. Schizophr Res. 2005.
  • Perkins DO, Lieberman JA, Gu H, Tohen M, McEvoy J, Green A, Zipursky R, Strakowski SM, Sharma T, Kahn R, Gur R, Tollefson G. Predictors of 12-week antipsychotic response in patients with first-episode schizophrenia, schizoaffective, and schizophreniform disorders. Br J Psychiatry, in press.

Submitted for Publication

  • Zipursky RB, Gu H, Green A, Perkins DO, Tohen M, McEvoy J, Strakowski SM, Sharma T, Kahn R, Gur R, Tollefson G, Lieberman JA, and the HGDH Research Group. Course and predictors of weight gain in first episode psychosis patients treated with olanzapine and haloperidol. Submitted for review.
  • Mills N, DelBello MP, Adler CM, Strakowski SM. Cerebellar Vermal Abnormalities in Bipolar Disorder: An MRI Analysis. Submitted for review.
  • Fleck DE, Dunayevich E, Knepfle SE, Kakani KS, Corey KB, Strakowski SM. Efficacy and safety of quetiapine dose escalation compared with divalproex sodium loading for the treatment of bipolar mania. Submitted for review.

Recent Published Letters

  • DelBello MP, Soutullo CA, Strakowski SM. Racial differences in the treatment of adolescents with bipolar disorder. Am J Psychiatry 2000; 157:838.
  • Dunayevich E, Strakowski SM. Seroquel in treatment-resistant mania. Am J Psychiatry 2000; 157:1341
  • DelBello MP, Lopez-Larson MP, Getz GE, Strakowski SM. Treatment of schizoaffective disorder with divalproex sodium. Schizophrenia Res 2000,46:77-79.
  • Fleck DE, Corey KB, Strakowski SM. Symptom dimensions in acutely ill patients with affective, schizoaffective, and schizophrenic disorders. Schizophrenia Res 2001, 50:131-132.
  • Fleck DE, DelBello MP, Zimmerman ME, Getz GE, Shear PK, Strakowski SM. Selective attention in schizoaffective disorder: Pilot data. Schizophrenia Research 2004; 68:109-110.

Recent Solicited Reviews and Book Chapters

  • Strakowski SM, Sax KW. Secondary mania: A model of the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder? In: JC Soares & S Gershon, eds. Basic Mechanisms and Therapeutic Implications of Bipolar Disorder. New York: Marcel-Dekker, 2000.
  • DelBello MP, Strakowski SM. The co-occurrence of affective and substance use disorders. In: J Westermeyer & R Weiss, eds. Integrating Treatment for Mood and Substance Use Disorders, Johns Hopkins Press, 2002.
  • Keck PE Jr., McElroy SL, Strakowski SM, Soutullo CA. Antipsychotics in the treatment of mood disorders and risk of tardive dyskinesia. J Clin Psychiatry 2000, 61 (suppl 4):33-38.
  • DelBello MP, Strakowski SM. The impact of substance abuse on the course of bipolar disorder. Directions in Psychiatry, in press.
  • Strakowski SM. Narrowing and Broadening Diagnostic Criteria for Bipolar Disorder: Competing Demands of Research and Clinical Practice. Commentary for M. Maj, ed., Bipolar Disorder: WPA Series Evidence & Experience in Psychiatry, volume 5. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 2002.
  • Strakowski SM. Differential brain mechanisms in bipolar and unipolar disorders: Considerations from brain imaging. In: JC Soares, ed. Brain Imaging in Affective Disorders. NY: Marcel Dekker, Inc, 2002.
  • Adler CM, Strakowski SM. The boundaries of schizophrenia. Psychiatric Clin N Amer, 2003; 26:1-23.
  • Strakowski SM. Schizoaffective disorder: An unresolved controversy. Current Psychiatry 2002, 1:22-29.
  • Strakowski SM. Diagnostic boundaries between bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, pp. 1382-1384. In: Weiden PJ, Chair. New Developments in Antipsychotic Therapy [Academic Highlights]. J Clin Psychiatry 2003; 64:1379-1390.
  • Strakowski SM. Diagnostic boundaries between bipolar disorder and schizophrenia: implications for pharmacologic intervention. Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Advanced Studies in Medicine 2003; 3(8C): S792-S798.
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