Emory Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit
Scientific Biography of J. Douglas Bremner, M.D.
J. Douglas Bremner, M.D.
is Professor of Psychiatry and Radiology and Director of the
Emory Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit (ECNRU)
at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, and Director of Mental Health Research at the Atlanta VAMC in
Decatur, Georgia. Dr. Bremner moved to Emory from Yale in November of 2000 where he spent the first 12 years of his career.
Dr. Bremner’s research has used neuroimaging and neurobiology measures to study
the neural correlates and neurobiology of
posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) related to combat and childhood abuse,
as well as the related area of depression. His more recent work is expanding to look at the relationship between brain, behavior, and physical health
including studies of heart disease and the brain, and the effects of medication on the brain.
Dr. Bremner has worked continuously throughout his career as a physician scientist, with the support of funding from
two successive VA Career Development Awards, VA Merit Review, NIMH, DOD, and various private sources. His research
includes studies of the neurobiology and assessment of PTSD, hippocampus and memory in PTSD and depression, neural
correlates of declarative memory and traumatic remembrance in PTSD, PET measurement of neuroreceptor binding in mood
and anxiety disorders, neural correlates of myocardial ischemia, and the effects of psychotropic
and acne medication on brain function and structure. His Director of the NIH T32 funded Training Program in Neuroimaging Sciences (TPINS).
Following obtaining a bachelors degree in literature, Dr. Bremner attended medical school at Duke University where he graduated in 1987,
followed by residency in Psychiatry (1991) and Nuclear Medicine (1997) at Yale School of Medicine, leading to a double board certification.
Dr Bremner was a VA Biological Psychiatry Fellow at the West Haven VA and Yale from 1990-1993, Assistant and Associate Professor of Psychiatry
and Radiology from 1993 to 2000, Director of the Yale Trauma Research Program and Associate Director of the Yale PET Center, before moving to
Emory in 2000. He was Director of the Emory Center for Positron Emission Tomography from 2000-2006.
Dr. Bremner has authored or co-authored over 200 peer reviewed
articles and book chapters, and written or edited five
books, including
Before You Take That Pill: Why the Drug Industry May be Bad for Your Health:
Risks and Side Effects You Won't Find on the Label of Commonly Prescribed Drugs, Vitamins, and Supplements.
(Avery, February 28, 2008),
and
Does Stress Damage the Brain? Understanding Trauma-Related Disorders from a Mind-Body Perspective (2002)
and Brain Imaging Handbook (2005), both published by W.W. Norton & Co.
He is on the editorial boards of several journals and the Scientific Advisory Board of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America. He has
received several awards for his work, including the Chaim Danieli Award for Research and Service in Traumatic Stress from the International
Society for Traumatic Stress Studies.
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Dr. Bremner's Curriculum Vitae
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