معرفی
Dr. Thomas Fernandez is an Associate Professor at Yale School of Medicine, jointly appointed in the Child Study Center and the Department of Psychiatry. He serves as Vice Chair for Research in the Child Study Center and Co-Director of the Tic and OCD Program, reflecting his leadership in clinical and translational research. His work is also affiliated with the Yale Institute for Global Health, the Center for Biomedical Data Science, and the Neuroscience Research Training Program.
- BA in Psychology, Princeton University (1997)
- MD, Yale University School of Medicine (2005)
- Residency in Child, Adolescent, and Adult Psychiatry, Yale-New Haven Hospital (2010, 2011)
- Fellowship, Yale Child Study Center (2012)
- Research Training, National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD
Dr. Fernandez’s research focuses on the genetic and epigenetic basis of developmental neuropsychiatric disorders, including Tourette syndrome, OCD, ADHD, and anxiety disorders. He employs advanced genomic techniques such as whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing, copy-number variant analysis, and transcriptome profiling to identify risk genes and biological pathways. His work aims to translate genetic discoveries into improved diagnostics and targeted therapies.
His recent publications, appearing in top-tier journals like Nature Genetics and Biological Psychiatry, reveal genome-wide loci for OCD, rare variants in ADHD, and neuroinflammatory changes in Tourette disorder. These studies highlight a strong trend toward large-scale collaborative genomics and mechanistic exploration of neuropsychiatric conditions.
- Spark Award, Yale Institute for Global Health (2023)
- Tourette Association of America Center of Excellence (2022)
- Outstanding Mentor Award, American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry (2019)
- Finalist, Ziskind-Somerfeld Research Award (2017)
- Allison Family Foundation Psychiatric Research Scholar (2012)
Dr. Fernandez has secured research funding from the NIMH (K08, R01), Brain & Behavior Research Foundation (NARSAD), Simons Foundation, and Allison Family Foundation. He mentors trainees and collaborates extensively, with frequent co-authorship with Dr. James Leckman, Dr. Emily Olfson, and Dr. Michael Bloch. He serves as Principal Investigator on multiple clinical and genetic studies, including trials on neurofeedback and biomarkers in OCD.
He leads the Fernandez Lab, which integrates clinical data with genomic and molecular analyses to study the biological basis of neuropsychiatric disorders. The lab is part of Yale’s broader neuroscience and child psychiatry research ecosystem, including the Child Study Center and the Yale Center for Brain and Mind Health.