Alfred Kaye

Alfred Kaye, MD, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine, affiliated with multiple research centers including the Center for Brain & Mind Health, Damisah Lab, Division of Molecular Psychiatry, Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Janeway Society, Neuroscience Research Training Program (NRTP), Neuroscience Track Psychiatry, Swartz Program in Theoretical Neurobiology, Wu Tsai Institute, and Yale Combined Program in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS).

Kaye earned his MD and PhD from the University of California, San Diego in 2014 and 2013 respectively. He completed his psychiatry residency and served as Chief Resident at Yale University in 2018, followed by a Research Fellowship at the Veterans Administration National Center for PTSD in 2020. He is board certified in Psychiatry by the ABPN (2021).

Dr. Kaye's research focuses on understanding adaptations to environmental danger and their relationship to PTSD using circuit and computational approaches. His lab investigates how neuromodulatory circuits reprogram one another to create adaptive responses to traumatic experiences, addressing the central problem of developing a mechanistic and functional understanding of stress and anxiety. His work employs advanced techniques including microendoscope and two-photon imaging of calcium and neurotransmitter sensors, large-scale electrophysiology (Neuropixels), computational analysis of behavior (DeepLabCut), and single cell transcriptomics.

His recent publications (2023-2025) reveal a strong focus on norepinephrine signaling in threat processing, psychedelic mechanisms, ketamine's antidepressant effects, and computational modeling of trauma responses. His work spans from molecular neuroscience to clinical applications, with particular emphasis on neural circuit dynamics during decision-making under uncertainty and threat prediction.

• Pilot Grant Research Award (2020)
• Mentored Clinical Scientist Research Career Development Award (K08) (2020)
• The Seymour L. Lustman Award for Psychiatric Research (2019)
• NARSD Young Investigator Award (2019)
• Outstanding Resident Award Program (2017)

Dr. Kaye collaborates extensively with prominent researchers including Alex Kwan, Christopher Pittenger, and John Krystal. His work bridges computational neuroscience with clinical psychiatry, aiming to translate basic findings into novel treatments for anxiety and trauma-related disorders. His lab is actively investigating how neuromodulatory systems respond to trauma and how these responses might be targeted for therapeutic intervention.

Dr. Kaye is part of Yale's Damisah Lab and contributes to the Division of Molecular Psychiatry, focusing on the intersection of circuit neuroscience, computational modeling, and psychiatric disorders. His work represents a cutting-edge approach to understanding the neural basis of stress responses and developing novel interventions for PTSD and related conditions.