Prof. Michael E. Thase, M.D.

Biography

Michael E. Thase is Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania and is a member of the medical and research staff at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Veterans Affairs Medical Center. A 1979 graduate of The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Professor Thase completed his internship, residency, chief residency, and postdoctoral training in clinical research at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC), where he rose to the rank of Professor of Psychiatry and served as Chief of the Division of Academic Adult Psychiatry before moving to Philadelphia in 2007. Professor Thase is renowned as a teacher, mentor, administrator, researcher, and clinician. He is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and was elected to membership in the American College of Psychiatrists in 1989. In 2019, he was elected to Penn Medicine’s Academy of Master Clinicians, an honor bestowed on only 2% of the medical faculty. He is a Past President of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology and served on its Board of Directors for 21 years. Professor Thase is a Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy and a member of advisory boards for the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, the National Network of Depression Centers, the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, and the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. One of the world’s most highly cited psychiatrists, Professor Thase has authored more than 1,300 publications, including a number of citation classics. The award-winning Learning Cognitive Therapy is among the 18 books that he has authored, co-authored, or co-edited. Professor Thase’s research has been continuously funded by various federal agencies for the past 36 years and currently focuses on novel therapies for difficult-to-treat depressive disorders, as well as the dissemination and implementation of cost-effective forms of cognitive behavioral therapy.