William H. Mellick

William H. Mellick, PhD, serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) College of Medicine. His academic focus encompasses the co-occurrence of bipolar disorder and alcohol use disorder, developmental psychopathology, and multimodal neuroimaging techniques including fMRI and DKI.

Dr. Mellick earned his PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Houston in 2017, specializing in the child/family track. He completed an APA-accredited clinical internship at MUSC (2016-2017) and subsequently trained as a NIAAA T32/F32 fellow with the Bipolar Disorder Research Program.

His research investigates social-cognitive and reward-related vulnerability factors in the intergenerational transmission of mood disorders, with particular emphasis on identifying neural endophenotypes for co-occurring bipolar disorder and alcohol use disorder. He employs high-risk research designs and multimodal neuroimaging to advance understanding of these complex conditions through studies on glutamate modulation, cue reactivity, and reward circuitry dysfunction.

Analysis of Dr. Mellick's recent publications (2020-2024) reveals a consistent focus on neuroimaging studies of reward circuitry, cue reactivity, and pharmacological interventions in bipolar disorder and substance use disorders. His work frequently explores glutamate levels, impulsivity, and biomarker development, contributing significantly to addiction psychiatry through systematic reviews of fMRI methodologies and clinical trials of novel therapeutics like N-acetylcysteine.

Dr. Mellick has received notable scientific recognition including:

• NIAAA T32/F32 fellowship
• NIAAA K23 award
• Research Excellence Award from the College of Medicine for his JAMA Psychiatry publication on alcohol cue processing in co-occurring disorders

He actively mentors fellows in the DART Training Program and welcomes trainees from the Charleston Consortium Internship Program. As Principal Investigator, he leads multiple NIH-funded projects including a K23 study on multimodal neuroimaging in bipolar disorder and alcohol use disorder, and a pilot project on bar-laboratory methods. Additionally, he serves as co-investigator for the Charleston Alcohol Research Center's core clinical research component, evaluating bar-laboratory methods for alcohol response studies.

Dr. Mellick directs research within the Bipolar Disorder Research Program at MUSC and collaborates closely with the Addiction Sciences Division, maintaining an active laboratory focused on translational neuroscience approaches to comorbid psychiatric conditions through multimodal neuroimaging and behavioral paradigms.