Vahram Haroutunian, PhD
- PROFESSOR | Psychiatry
- PROFESSOR | Neuroscience
Research Topics:
Alzheimer's Disease, Glutamate (NMDA & AMPA) Receptors, Myelination, Neurotransmitters, RNA, SchizophreniaDr. Haroutunian joined the faculty at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine in the summer of 1982 and is now Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobiology. Dr. Haroutunian came to Mount Sinai after completing a postdoctoral training program at Princeton concentrating on research in development and in aging. His research interests since joining the Mount Sinai faculty have centered on the neurobiology of Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. He directs the Division of Basic and Laboratory Science in the Department of Psychiatry, the Alzheimer’s disease and Schizophrenia Brain Bank, a National Institute of Aging program project grant entitled Clinical and Biological Studies of Early Alzheimer’s disease, a National Institute of Mental Health R01 grant and a Veterans Affairs Merit grant on the roles of glutamate in schizophrenia, and is the Associate Director for Research for the Veterans Administration Mental Illness Research and Education Clinical Center. He is also a major contributor to Mount Sinai’s Silvio Conte Center for Neuroscience and the Alzheimer’s disease Research Center. In the past decade Dr. Haroutunian’s research has centered on clinical and neuropathological correlated of schizophrenia and dementia. He has used molecular biological techniques, including microarray technology (DNA-chip) and neuropathological studies to understand the biological substrates of mental illness and dementia. Dr. Haroutunian works closely with his associates and colleagues Dr. Stella Dracheva and Dr. Pavel Katsel and collaborates with many members of the Department of Psychiatry and researchers at Mount Sinai and multiple other institutions in the US and around the world. These collaborations include studies conducted jointly with Dr. Kenneth Davis, Dr. Joseph Buxbaum, Dr. Giulio Pasinetti, Dr. Gregory Elder and Dr. Philip Harvey.
Multi-Disciplinary Training Area
Neuroscience [NEU]Education
PhD, Kent State University
Princeton University
Haroutunian V, Katsel P, Schmeidler J. Transcriptional vulnerability of brain regions in Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Neurobiology of Aging 2009; 30(4): 561-573.
Hoffman LB, Schmeidler J, Lesser G, Beeri MS, Purohit DP, Grossman HT. Less Alzheimer disease neuropathology in medicated hypertensive than nonhypertensive persons. Neurology 2009; 72(20): 1720-1726.
Katsel P, Tan W, Haroutunian V. Gain in Brain Immunity in the Oldest-Old Differentiates Cognitively Normal from Demented Individuals. PloS ONE 2009; 4(10): 7642.
Beeri MS, Schmeidler J, Silverman J, Gandy S, Wysocki M, Hannigan CM. Insulin in combination with other diabetes medication is associated with lower Alzheimer's neuropathology. Neurology 2008; 71: 750-757.
Haroutunian V, Schnaider-Beeri M, Schmeidler J, Wysocki M, Purohit DP, Perl DP. Role of the neuropathology of Alzheimer disease in dementia in the oldest-old. Arch Neurol 2008; 65(9): 1211-1217.
Katsel P, Davis KL, Li C, Tan W, Greenstein E, Kleiner Hoffman LB. Abnormal Indices of Cell Cycle Activity in Schizophrenia and their Potential Association with Oligodendrocytes. Neuropsychopharmacology 2008; 33: 2993-3009.
Beeri MS, Rapp M, Silverman JM, Schmeidler J, Grossman HT, Fallon JT. Coronary artery disease is associated with Alzheimer disease neuropathology in APOE4 carriers - Reply from the authors. Neurology 2007; 68(6): 471.
Haroutunian V, Davies P, Vianna C, Buxbaum JD, Purohit DP. Tau protein abnormalities associated with the progression of alzheimer disease type dementia. Neurobiology of Aging 2007; 28(1): 1-7.
Beeri MS, Rapp M, Silverman JM, Schmeidler J, Grossman H, Fallon JT. Coronary artery disease is associated with Alzheimer's disease neuropathology in APOE 4 carriers. Neurology 2006; 66(9): 1399-1404.
Byne W, Tatusov A, Kidkardnee S, Yiannoulos G, Haroutunian V. Schizophrenia-associated reduction of oligodendrocytes in anterior thalamic nucleus. Schizo Res 2006; 85(1-3): 245-253.
Physicians and scientists on the faculty of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai often interact with pharmaceutical, device and biotechnology companies to improve patient care, develop new therapies and achieve scientific breakthroughs. In order to promote an ethical and transparent environment for conducting research, providing clinical care and teaching, Mount Sinai requires that salaried faculty inform the School of their relationships with such companies.
Dr. Haroutunian did not report having any of the following types of financial relationships with industry during 2017 and/or 2018: consulting, scientific advisory board, industry-sponsored lectures, service on Board of Directors, participation on industry-sponsored committees, equity ownership valued at greater than 5% of a publicly traded company or any value in a privately held company. Please note that this information may differ from information posted on corporate sites due to timing or classification differences.
Mount Sinai's faculty policies relating to faculty collaboration with industry are posted on our website. Patients may wish to ask their physician about the activities they perform for companies.