Stuart Eisendrath

Dr. Stuart Eisendrath is a Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine and a member of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. He specializes in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for major depressive disorder and treatment-resistant depression, incorporating neuroimaging to assess therapeutic effects. As Director of the UCSF Depression Center for 15 years, he has led pioneering research in abnormal illness behaviors, including factitious disorders, somatic symptom disorders, and malingering, alongside chronic pain psychiatry.

• Education: Residency at UCSF School of Medicine

His research focuses on:

• Mindfulness-based interventions for depression
• Neuroimaging in treatment-resistant depression
• Psychiatric management of chronic pain
• Factitious and somatic symptom disorders
• Complementary therapies in mental health

Selected publications highlight his work on:

• MBCT with fMRI analysis
• Factitious disorders in legal contexts
• Smoking cessation in depressed patients
• Neurological correlates of depression
• Telehealth applications for mindfulness therapy

Scientific recognitions include:

• American Psychiatric Association Distinguished Life Fellow (2010)
• UCSF George Sarlo Prize for Teaching (2008-2009)
• Mind and Life Institute Senior Fellow (2012)
• Best Doctors in America (2005, 2017)

He has secured significant funding through the NIH R01AT004572 grant (2008-2015) as Principal Investigator and has mentored numerous collaborators in clinical trials and psychiatric education initiatives.