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Biography

Dr. Max was born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa. He graduated from the University of the Witwatersrand Medical School in Johannesburg. He trained in General Psychiatry and also Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Brown University. He began his research career at the University of Iowa where he established himself as a nationally recognized investigator in the area of psychiatric outcome of traumatic brain injury in children and adolescents. Currently he works at the University of California, San Diego where he is recognized internationally for his research in pediatric traumatic brain injury and also pediatric stroke.

Research Interests

Dr. Max conducts studies of pediatric traumatic brain injury and pediatric stroke. The thrust of the research is to identify brain imaging characteristics including microstructural white matter integrity and lesion location as well as psychosocial (e.g., family function, family psychiatric history, child’s pre-injury function) predictors of varied psychiatric disorders that develop after brain injury. Through the identification of outcome predictors a rational strategy for early identification and treatment of complications can be developed. Dr. Max leads a 5-year National Institutes of Health study on pediatric mild traumatic brain injury focusing on psychiatric outcome and brain imaging changes. He also investigates the neuropsychological profile of post-brain injury psychiatric disorders as an additional tool to understand the mechanism of these disorders.

Clinical Focus

Dr. Max is a Board Certified General Psychiatrist as well as a Board Certified Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist. He treats children and adolescents and adults often within the same family. His general psychiatric practice consists of people with behavioral disorders (such as ADHD), pervasive developmental disorder, depressive disorders, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, and anxiety syndromes. He conducts medication management, individual psychotherapy, couple’s therapy, and family therapy. He is trained in the McMaster Model of Family Therapy. He has specialized experience with psychiatric complications of brain injury including traumatic brain injury, epilepsy, stroke, pre-natal alcohol or drug exposure. Dr. Max teaches residents at University of California, San Diego in the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry training program.