Carlos Zarate Jr, M.D.
NIH Distinguished Investigator
Research Topics
Dr. Zarate’s current research focus is on developing novel medications for treatment-resistant depression, bipolar disorder, and suicide. His areas of expertise include biological and pharmacological aspects of mood disorders in adults. Dr. Zarate’s group conducts proof-of-concept studies utilizing novel compounds and biomarkers (magnetoencephalography [MEG] and polysomnography [PSG], positron emission tomography [PET], functional magnetic resonance imaging [fMRI] and magnetic resonance spectroscopy [MRS]) to identify potentially relevant drug targets and biosignatures of treatment response. A multidisciplinary translational research team conducts the research in the ETPB. In addition, the Branch provides training to develop the next generation of clinical translational researchers.
See Dr. Zarate's current clinical research studies here.
Biography
Carlos A. Zarate, M.D. is Chief, Section on the Neurobiology and Treatment of Mood Disorders and Chief of Experimental Therapeutics and Pathophysiology Branch (ETPB) at the National Institute of Mental Health, and Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, at The George Washington University.
Dr. Zarate completed a Fellowship in Clinical Psychopharmacology at McLean Hospital from 1992-1993, after which he remained as a staff member until 1998. At the McLean Hospital Consolidated Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Dr. Zarate was the Director of the Bipolar and Psychotic Disorders Outpatient Services, Chair of the Pharmacy and Therapeutic Committee, and Director of the New and Experimental Clinic. From 1998 to 2000, Dr. Zarate was the Chief of the Bipolar and Psychotic Disorders Program, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, and Chair of the Grand Rounds Committee at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. In January 2001, he joined the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program at the NIMH as Chief of the Mood Disorders Research Unit. In 2009, Dr. Zarate formed the Experimental Therapeutics and Pathophysiology Branch at the NIMH.
His achievements and awards include the Ethel-DuPont Warren Award and Livingston Awards, Consolidated Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, 1993-1994; NIH-NIMH Travel Award, 1994; American College of Neuropsychopharmacology Travel Awards, 1994 and 1995; Program for Minority Research Training in Psychiatry, American Psychiatric Association, 1996; the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression Young Investigator Award, 1996-1998; Young Investigator Bipolar Disorder Andrew P. Merrill Memorial Fund 1995-1997; Outstanding Psychiatrist Research Award, Massachusetts Psychiatric Association, 1997; Honorable Mention APA/SmithKline Beecham Young Faculty Award, 1999; Clinical Teacher of Honor, National Institutes of Health, 2004; the Mentor of the Year, Intramural Research Program, NIMH, 2004; the Supervisor of the Year, NIMH, 2005; the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression Independent Investigator Award, 2005; the NIH Director’s Award-Scientific/Medical, 2007; NIMH Directors Award, 2009; the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation Award for Bipolar Mood Disorder Research (NARSAD), 2011; Mogens Schou Research Award: Bipolar Disorder, International Society for Bipolar Disorder, 2013; Top 10 Major Discoveries by NARSAD Grantees, Next Generation Therapies: Bipolar Disorder, Fast-Acting Antidepressants, 2014; Ruth L. Kirschstein Mentoring Award NIH, 2015; Astute Clinical Lecture Award, Clinical Center NIH, 2015; APF Simon Bolivar Award American Psychiatric Association, 2015; Top 10 Advancements & Breakthroughs, Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (NARSAD), Next-Generation Treatments: Suicide, Depression, 2016; Frank O. Shobe Lecture Grand Rounds, Washington University in St. Louis, 2016; William and Helen Guynn Lectureship, Dept of Psychiatry Grand Rounds, UTHealth McGovern Medical School, Houston Texas, 2018; National Institute of Mental Health Director’s Outstanding Mentor Award, 2018; NIH Distinguished Investigator, 2019; Dolores Shockley Minority Mentoring Award, ACNP, 2019; Member, National Academy of Medicine, 2020; Wagner-Jauregg Medal (ÖGPB) of the Austrian Society of Neuropsychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 2020; Gerald L. Klerman Senior Investigator Award, 2021; George Heninger Lecture, Grand Rounds, Yale University, 2022; Distinguished Scientist Lecture, University of Pittsburgh Dept. of Psychiatry, 2022; "How Science Has Offered Hope for Treatment-Resistant Depression”, White House virtual conversations to highlight promising areas of current research, 2022; National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) Director’s Award, 2022; 16th annual Philip S. Chen, Jr. PhD Distinguished Lecture on Innovation and Technology Transfer, 2023; NIMH Director’s Outstanding Mentor Award, 2023; NCATS Director’s Award for Boundary-Crossing Partnerships, 2024; Fellow, National Academy of Inventors, 2024; and American College of Psychiatrists Mood Disorders Award, 2025.
Selected Publications
Zarate CA, Singh JB, Carlson PJ, Brutsche NE, Ameli R, Luckenbaugh DA, Charney DS, Manji HK (2006). A randomized trial of an N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist in treatment-resistant major depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry 63, 856-64. https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.63.8.856. [Pubmed Link ]
Zanos P, Moaddel R, Morris PJ, Georgiou P, Fischell J, Elmer GI, Alkondon M, Yuan P, Pribut HJ, Singh NS, Dossou KS, Fang Y, Huang XP, Mayo CL, Wainer IW, Albuquerque EX, Thompson SM, Thomas CJ, Zarate CA, Gould TD (2016). NMDAR inhibition-independent antidepressant actions of ketamine metabolites. Nature 533, 481-6. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature17998. [Pubmed Link ]
Diazgranados N, Ibrahim L, Brutsche NE, Newberg A, Kronstein P, Khalife S, Kammerer WA, Quezado Z, Luckenbaugh DA, Salvadore G, Machado-Vieira R, Manji HK, Zarate CA (2010). A randomized add-on trial of an N-methyl-D-aspartate antagonist in treatment-resistant bipolar depression. Arch Gen Psychiatry 67, 793-802. https://doi.org/10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2010.90. [Pubmed Link ]
Jones GH, Gilbert JR, Johnston JN, Akula N, Schulmann A, Arakelian M, Peng S, Yuan P, Winful EA, Yavi M, Quintanilla B, Elkahloun A, Moaddel R, Henter ID, Greenstein D, Machado-Vieira R, Bartley CM, Kadriu B, Amit M, Rezvani K, Kvarta MD, McMahon FJ, Zarate CA (2026) Convergent neuroimmune signaling underlying rapid antidepressant response to ketamine and psychedelics. Mol Psychiatry, in press (e-pub ahead of print) https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-026-03777-z. [Pubmed Link ]
Nugent AC, Ballard ED, Gould TD, Park LT, Moaddel R, Brutsche NE, Zarate CA (2019). Ketamine has distinct electrophysiological and behavioral effects in depressed and healthy subjects. Mol Psychiatry 24, 1040-1052. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-018-0028-2. [Pubmed Link ]
Hatfield Clinical Research Center, Room 7-5342, MSC 1282
BETHESDA, MD 20814
Phone: +1 301 451 0861
Fax: +1 301 480 8792