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Biography

Dr. Jeste obtained his medical education in India. In the USA, he completed psychiatry residency at Cornell University, and Neurology residency at George Washington University. He was Chief of the Units on Movement Disorders and Dementias at NIMH before joining UCSD. Dr. Jeste has been Principal Investigator on a number of research and training grants. He has published 11 books, and over 575 articles in peer-reviewed journals and more than 125 invited book chapters. He is Past President of the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry and the West Coast College of Biological Psychiatry, and Founding President of the International College of Geriatric Psychoneuropharmacology. Dr. Jeste is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and was a member of the National Mental Health Advisory Council and the NIH Council of Councils. He is Editor-in-Chief of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. He was listed in “The Best Doctors in America” and has been in the Institute of Scientific Information list of the “world's most cited authors”--comprising less than 0.5% percent of all publishing researchers of the previous two decades. Dr. Jeste has received many awards including the A.E. Bennett Neuropsychiatric Research Award from the Society of Biological Psychiatry; MERIT Award from the NIMH; Commendation for Dedicated Service from the American Legion, Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission; C. Charles Burlingame Award from the Institute of Living, Hartford; the Award for Research in Psychiatry as well as the Jack Weinberg Memorial Award in Geriatric Psychiatry, the George Tarjan Award, and two Distinguished Lecturer Awards from the APA; Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness; Distinguished Investigator Award from the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders; and award from Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru.

Research Interests

Dr. Jeste’s primary areas of research are psychosis and its treatment in late life, and successful cognitive aging. He has conducted studies of clinical, neuropsychological and neurobiological characteristics of late-onset schizophrenia, aging of early-onset schizophrenia patients, and psychosis of Alzheimer’s disease. In terms of treatments, he has published on therapeutic and adverse effects (including metabolic syndrome) of antipsychotics. He has also been interested in psychosocial treatments as well as certain bioethical aspects of research (particularly decision making capacity and methods for enhancing it) among older people with psychotic disorders. In recent years, he has been seeking to understand mechanisms involved in successful cognitive aging (including wisdom) at both psychological and neurobiological levels.

Clinical Focus

Dr. Jeste started the Geriatric Psychiatry program at UCSD in 1986. Two key components of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry are Senior Behavioral Health program (with inpatient unit and outpatient clinic) at UCSD Medical Center, and Geriatric Psychiatry Clinic at VA San Diego Healthcare System. Both these multi-disciplinary programs serve older persons with various neuropsychiatric disorders including dementia, depression, schizophrenia, alcohol and substance use disorders, and anxiety disorders. Patients receive psychiatric, medical and neuropsychologic assessments. Treatments include pharmacotherapy, psychosocial therapy, and family education/therapy with caregivers. There are also several training programs in geriatric mental health for fellows, medical students, and high-school students.