Master the Most Complex Psychiatric Conditions
Harvard Psychopharmacology: A Master Class 2026
Expand your clinical expertise with cutting-edge strategies, emerging treatments, and the latest neurobiological research. Learn directly from world-renowned experts to confidently treat difficult and treatment-resistant psychiatric patients.
Transform Your Clinical Practice
We are pleased to offer our 15th annual Master Class uniquely designed for practicing clinicians, clinical researchers, and psychiatry trainees. Presentations focus heavily on typical psychiatric patients with an emphasis on those who are difficult to treat or treatment-resistant.
Serious Mental Illness
Master the neurobiology of brain function, from neurotransmitter circuits to gene-environment interactions. Explore advanced drug treatments for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, focusing on prodromal symptoms, long-term maintenance, new antipsychotics, and innovative mood stabilizers.
Refractory Depression
Dive deep into the genetic, epigenetic, and inflammatory mechanisms of depression. Learn cutting-edge augmentation strategies for treatment-resistant and bipolar depression, with special focus on ketamine, ECT, TMS, and emerging psychedelic therapies.
Anxiety, PTSD & Substance Use
Update your protocols for panic, social, and generalized anxiety disorders, including new data on benzodiazepine risks and benefits. Explore the etiology of PTSD alongside new uses for psychedelics. Gain crucial insights into treating alcohol, cannabis, and opiate abuse.
Specialized Populations
Tailor your approach across the lifespan: from child and adolescent affective disorders to advances in geriatric neuropsychiatry. Includes dedicated modules on sleep disorders and women’s mental health (PMS, perinatal, and postpartum disorders).
"Throughout the course, we emphasize both the establishment of the therapeutic alliance when prescribing psychotropic medications, as well as the translation of new neurobiological research into everyday clinical practice."
Learning Objectives
- Evaluate the effects of neurotransmitters, neurocircuits, and genes on psychotropic drug treatment.
- Describe the pharmacologic treatment of schizophrenia with particular reference to the prodromal period and first episode.
- Outline the emerging theories and treatments of bipolar disorder, depression, treatment resistant depression, bipolar depression, stress, and anxiety, PTSD and neuropsychiatric disorders.
- Discuss the role of psychopharmacology in the management of depression and bipolar disorder in childhood and adolescence.
- Identify the benefits and risks of ketamine and psychedelics, including use for PTSD.
- Discuss the role of psychotropic medications in women’s mental health with an emphasis on PMS, pregnancy, nursing, and the postpartum period.
- Explain the role of psychopharmacology in the treatment of substance use disorders with particular emphasis on alcohol, opiates, and cannabis.
- Give examples of the latest advances and problems associated with treatment approaches in the geriatric populations.
Target Audience
Psychiatrists, Pharmacists, Specialty Physicians, Psychologists, Physician Assistants, Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Primary Care Physicians, and Social Workers.
Course Schedule
All sessions are in Eastern Time.
Day 1: Friday, March 20, 2026
| Time | Session | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 7:30 - 8:00 am | Registration | |
| 8:00 - 8:15 am | Welcome Remarks | Carl Salzman; Matcheri Keshavan; Roscoe Brady |
| 8:15 - 9:00 am | Update on the Neurobiology for the Practicing Clinician: Understanding Brain Function and its Clinical Relevance | Matcheri Keshavan |
| 9:00 - 9:45 am | Update on the Development of Antidepressant for Refractory Depression | Alan Schatzberg |
| 9:45 - 10:30 am | Treatment of Bipolar Disorders: Rational Polypharmacy and Bipolar Depression | Roscoe Brady |
| 10:30 - 10:45 am | Coffee Break | |
| 10:45 - 11:30 am | Psychopharmacology in Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders | Kristina Deligiannidis |
| 11:30 am - 12:15 pm | Psychopharmacologic Approaches in Childhood and Adolescents Affective Disorders | Melissa DelBello |
| 12:15 - 12:45 pm | Panel Discussion # 1 | M. Keshavan; A. Schatzberg; K. Deligiannidis; M. DelBello; R. Brady |
| 12:45 - 1:45 pm | Lunch | |
| 1:45 - 2:30 pm | Current and Emerging Neuromodulation Approaches: Update for Prescribers | Roscoe Brady |
| 2:30 - 3:15 pm | Psychopharmacology in Geriatrics and Neuropsychiatry Population | Alejandro Dan Mendoza |
| 3:15 - 3:30 pm | Coffee Break | |
| 3:30 - 4:15 pm | Therapeutic Approaches to the Difficult Patient: Difficult-to-Treat Depression | Stephen Stahl |
| 4:15 - 5:00 pm | Panel Discussion # 2 | S. Stahl; R. Brady; A. Mendoza |
| 5:00 - 5:05 pm | Adjourn |
Day 2: Saturday, March 21, 2026
| Time | Session | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 8:30 - 9:15 am | Current Treatment for Schizophrenia: Prodrome, First Episode, Relapse and New Treatment Possibilities | Matcheri Keshavan |
| 9:15 - 10:15 am | Neurobiology and Treatment of Sleep in Psychiatric Disorders | John Winkelman; Tony Cunningham |
| 10:15 - 10:30 am | Coffee Break | |
| 10:30 - 11:15 am | Apps and AI as Therapeutics? | John Torous |
| 11:15 am - 12:00 pm | Mechanisms of Psychedelics and Their Potential Treatment for PTSD | Ryan Henner |
| 12:00 - 12:45 pm | Panel Discussion | C. Salzman; J. Torous; J. Winkelman; R. Henner; T. Cunningham |
| 12:45 - 1:30 pm | Lunch | |
| 1:30 - 2:30 pm | Effective Treatment of Substance Use Disorders | Kevin Hill; Pooja Sarkar |
| 2:30 - 3:15 pm | Anxiety Mechanisms, Treatment of Anxiety Spectrum Disorders & New Benzodiazepine Data | Carl Salzman |
| 3:15 - 3:30 pm | Coffee Break | |
| 3:30 - 4:15 pm | The Status of Laboratory Testing to Predict Antidepressant Response: Problems and Promises | Charles Nemeroff |
| 4:15 - 4:45 pm | Panel Discussion | C. Salzman; K. Hill; C. Nemeroff; M. Keshavan; P. Sarkar |
| 4:45 - 5:00 pm | Wrap-Up, Last Questions | |
| 5:00 - 5:05 pm | Adjourn |
Faculty
Course Directors
Matcheri Keshavan, MD
Stanley R. Cobb Professor and Academic Head of Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Massachusetts Mental Health Center (MMHC) Harvard Medical School
Carl Salzman, MD
Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Roscoe Brady, MD, PhD
Vice-Chair for Research in the Department of Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School
Guest Faculty
Tony Cunningham, PhD
Director for the Center for Sleep and Cognition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School
Alejandro Dan Mendoza, MD
Director of Neuropsychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Cognitive Neurology Unit and Director of Heart Transplant Psychiatry
Melissa DelBello, MD, MS
Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics and Dr. Stanley and Mickey Kaplan Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine (UCCOM)
Kristina Deligiannidis, MD
Director of Women’s Behavioral Health at the Zucker Hillside Hospital at Northwell Health and a Professor of Psychiatry, Molecular Medicine and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
Ryan Henner, MD
Staff Psychiatrist and Director of Novel Therapeutics at Beth Israel Deaconess main campus in Boston
Kevin Hill, MD, MHS
Director of Addiction Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School
Charles Nemeroff, MD, PhD
Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin
Pooja Sarkar, DO
Board-Certified Addiction Psychiatrist in the Division of Addiction Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Alan Schatzberg, MD
Kenneth Norris Jr. Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University
Stephen Stahl, MD, PhD
Distinguished Health Sciences Clinical Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the University of California Riverside, Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California San Diego
John Torous, MD, MBI
Director of the Digital Psychiatry division, in the Department of Psychiatry at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BDIMC)
John Winkelman, MD, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Chief of the Sleep Disorders Clinical Research Program in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital
Attendee Reviews
"This master class completely transformed how I approach treatment-resistant depression in my practice. The faculty's clinical insights and evidence-based strategies are unparalleled."
- Dr. Jane S.
Attending Psychiatrist
"An incredibly dense, high-yield two days. The sessions on neuromodulation and psychedelics were particularly eye-opening. I will definitely be returning next year."
- Dr. Mark R.
Clinical Researcher
"I attend every year. It is hands-down the best update on psychopharmacology available, providing practical tools and drug combinations I can confidently use on Monday morning."
- Dr. Emily T.
Chief Medical Officer
Elevate Your Practice Today
Stop struggling with treatment-resistant cases. Get immediate, lifetime access to the complete Harvard Psychopharmacology Master Class and bring world-class expertise back to your patients.
- 15 High-Definition Video Lectures & Panels
- 16 Comprehensive PDF Slide Decks
- Instant, Lifetime Access via Google Drive
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