Reid Robison (born September 1976 in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

board-certified psychiatrist known primarily for his work with psychedelic medicines. As an early adopter and researcher of the use of

ketamine Ketamine is a cyclohexanone-derived general anesthetic and NMDA receptor antagonist with analgesic and hallucinogenic properties, used medically for anesthesia, depression, and pain management. Ketamine exists as its S- (esketamine) a ...

psychiatry Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of deleterious mental disorder, mental conditions. These include matters related to cognition, perceptions, Mood (psychology), mood, emotion, and behavior. ...

, Robison has made significant contributions to

ketamine-assisted psychotherapy Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy is the use of prescribed doses of ketamine, an analgesic anesthetic with dissociative properties, in combination with psychotherapy for treatment of various psychiatric conditions. Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy s ...

(KAP) and other treatment modalities using ketamine for

mental health conditions A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

. He previously served as coordinating investigator for a study on MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for

eating disorders An eating disorder is a mental disorder defined by abnormal eating behaviors that adversely affect a person's health, physical or mental health, mental health. These behaviors may include eating too much food or too little food. Types of eatin ...

, sponsored by the

Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) is an American nonprofit organization working to raise awareness and understanding of psychedelic substances. MAPS was founded in 1986 by Rick Doblin and is now based in San Jose, C ...

(MAPS), and he continues to lead research and psychiatric clinical trials involving psychedelics. To date, Robison has guided thousands of ketamine-assisted therapy sessions and Spravato dosing sessions. He currently serves as Medical Director of ''Center for Change'', an eating disorder treatment center in Utah, and Chief Clinical Officer of ''Numinus'', a

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

-based mental health company focused on psychedelic research and treatments. Robison is an adjunct professor at both the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

and

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

Education and early life

Robison was born in 1976 near

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and grew up living in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada. He returned to the United States for college and received a B.S. in

Neuroscience Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system (the brain, spinal cord, and peripheral nervous system), its functions, and its disorders. It is a multidisciplinary science that combines physiology, anatomy, molecular biology, ...

from

, in 2001, after which he attended the

University of Utah School of Medicine The University of Utah School of Medicine is located on the upper campus of the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. It was founded in 1905 and is currently the only MD-granting medical school in the state of Utah. History The school bega ...

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

. Upon earning a dual

M.D. A Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated MD, from the Latin ) is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the ''MD'' denotes a professional degree of physician. This ge ...

M.B.A A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ar ...

in 2005, he completed psychiatry

residency Residency may refer to: * Artist-in-residence, a program to sponsor the residence and work of visual artists, writers, musicians, etc. * Concert residency, a series of concerts performed at one venue * Domicile (law), the act of establishing or m ...

training at the University of Utah, followed by

fellowship A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

training in

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

and

bioinformatics Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field of science that develops methods and Bioinformatics software, software tools for understanding biological data, especially when the data sets are large and complex. Bioinformatics uses biology, ...

at the University of Utah.

Career and research

After his fellowship, Robison held a faculty position at the University of Utah School of Medicine from 2009 to 2011. Here, he served as the Associate Director of the Mood Disorders Clinic and co-directed the Psychiatric

Molecular Genetics Molecular genetics is a branch of biology that addresses how differences in the structures or expression of DNA molecules manifests as variation among organisms. Molecular genetics often applies an "investigative approach" to determine the st ...

lab where he focused his research primarily on the genetic associations of

autism Autism, also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD), is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by differences or difficulties in social communication and interaction, a preference for predictability and routine, sensory processing d ...

, and also contributed to the discovery of

Ogden Syndrome Ogden syndrome, also known as N-terminal N-acetyltransferase, acetyltransferase deficiency (NATD), is an X-linked disorder of infancy comprising a distinct combination of distinctive craniofacial features producing an aged appearance, growth failu ...

, a rare disease found using next-generation sequencing technology. During his time as faculty within the Department of Psychiatry he also led global health initiatives and guided trainees during trips to

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

and

refugee camp A refugee camp is a temporary Human settlement, settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for in ...

s along the Thai/Burma border. Early in his career, Robison founded the ''Polizzi Foundation'', a free clinic based in

offering mental health services to the uninsured. He also co-founded ''Clinical Methods'', a center for clinical trials, with a Clark W Johnson MD, his medical school colleague and business partner. ''Clinical Methods'' was acquired by ''CRI-Lifetree'' in 2012 and later ''PRA Health Sciences.'' Robison has also been closely involved with

Intermountain Healthcare Intermountain Health (formerly Intermountain Healthcare) is a United States Non-profit organization, not-for-profit Health care, healthcare system with 385 clinics and 33 hospitals in the Intermountain West (primarily Colorado, Idaho, Montana, N ...

, the largest healthcare provider in the mountain west region of the United States. Robison set up the Consult-Liaison Service at

Intermountain Medical Center Intermountain Medical Center is the flagship hospital of Intermountain Healthcare. Located in Murray, Utah, United States, on a site at the center of the Salt Lake Valley, Intermountain Medical Center serves as a major adult referral center f ...

, Intermountain’s flagship hospital, to provide psychiatric consults to the emergency department and medical floors. After conducting his first research study of ketamine in 2011, he went on to create a ketamine program for treatment-resistant depression at Intermountain’s IV Therapy Center. In 2012, he obtained a grant to study ketamine for depression from the Intermountain Research & Medical Foundation. In 2012, Robison and computational biologist Kai Wang co-founded

Tute Genomics Tute Genomics is a genomics startup that provides a cloud-based web application for rapid and accurate annotation of human genomic data. Built on the expertise of ANNOVAR, Tute assists researchers in identifying disease genes and biomarkers, and a ...

, a personalized medicine software company which sought to increase practice of genomic medicine. In 2016, Tute Genomics was acquired by PierianDx. Robison currently sits on the board of directors. Robison is recognized for speeding up genomic data transfer and analysis through the use of

Google Fiber Google Fiber, Inc., sometimes stylized as GFiber, is a fiber broadband Internet service operated by Alphabet Inc. servicing a growing number of households in cities in 19 states across the United States. In mid-2016, Google Fiber was estimated ...

. Later, Robison and a colleague co-founded ''Cedar Psychiatry'', a network of outpatient mental health clinics offering ketamine therapy,

transcranial magnetic stimulation Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a noninvasive neurostimulation technique in which a changing magnetic field is used to induce an electric current in a targeted area of the brain through electromagnetic induction. A device called a st ...

(TMS), medication management, and

psychotherapy Psychotherapy (also psychological therapy, talk therapy, or talking therapy) is the use of Psychology, psychological methods, particularly when based on regular Conversation, personal interaction, to help a person change behavior, increase hap ...

, and ''Cedar Clinical Research'' in 2018. At Cedar Clinical Research, Robison led the Utah site for the pivotal IV ketamine study of

treatment-resistant depression Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) is often defined as major depressive disorder in which an affected person does not respond adequately to at least two different antidepressant medications at an adequate dose and for an adequate duration. Inad ...

by Janssen, leading up to the company’s FDA-approval of Spravato (esketamine) via

breakthrough therapy designation Breakthrough therapy is a United States Food and Drug Administration designation that expedites drug development that was created by Congress under Section 902 of the 9 July 2012 Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act. The FDA's "b ...

in 2019. After the companies were acquired in 2020, by Novamind, a Canadian company endeavoring to bring psychedelic medicine into the mental health field, Robison was appointed as the Chief Medical Officer. Upon the acquisition of ''Novamind'' by ''Numinus'', another Canadian-based company with expertise in psychedelic medicine, Robison became the Chief Clinical Officer of ''Numinus.'' In this role, Robison continues to oversee the ketamine therapy practice at ''Cedar Psychiatry'' for treating depression,

PTSD Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental disorder that develops from experiencing a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, warfare and its associated traumas, natural disaster, traffic collision, ...

, OCD and other mental health conditions. Robison also continues in his as Medical Director of ''Center for Change'', an eating disorder treatment center in Utah.

Awards and recognition

* In 2014, Robison was named one of the ''Utah Venture Entrepreneur Forum'' peak 100 entrepreneurs of the year. * In 2015, Robison was named one of the top 40 healthcare transformers of the year, * In 2020, Robison was named Best Psychiatrist in Utah.

Yoga

Robison is a certified Yoga instructed and completed his training under Sri Dharma Mittra in New York City. He often speaks and writes about yoga and mindfulness for mental health.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Robison, Reid Living people American chief executives American physicians American scientists Brigham Young University alumni University of Utah School of Medicine alumni University of Utah faculty 1976 births