Our highly trained and experienced core team at the Blau Center provides the best care possible for our patients. We also collaborate with other centers, divisions, and departments, such as the Department of Artificial Intelligence and Human Health.
Meet our clinical research team.
René S. Kahn, MD, PhD, Inaugural Director
Dr. Kahn is the Esther and Joseph Klingenstein Professor and Chair of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is a neuropsychiatrist and leading expert in the neurobiology of schizophrenia, being most well-known for his contributions to the understanding of cognitive dysfunction as a prodromal symptom of schizophrenia, evident years before onset of psychosis symptoms. His other work has focused on tracking the progressive brain changes associated with the course of the illness, including changes in brain volume and cortical thickness as well as the clinical significance of these changes. Dr. Kahn initiated several large treatment trials in schizophrenia during his time in Europe in order to improve the outcome of patients with schizophrenia. He is also involved in many other collaborative studies, examining both genetic and neuroimaging parameters. His work has been funded by sources such as the European Union, the Dutch government, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Stanley Foundation.
He completed his medical degree in the Netherlands training in both psychiatry and neurology before moving to New York City to complete a research fellowship at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and psychiatry residency at The Mount Sinai Hospital. After this, he served as Chief of Psychiatry Research at the James J. Peters Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, then Chair of Psychiatry at Utrecht University Hospital. Dr. Kahn is a world-renowned, prolific researcher and has been cited in more than 950 peer-reviewed articles, written 39 books and book chapters, and been principal or co-principal investigator on more than 40 grants.
Alexander Charney, MD, PhD, Executive Director
Dr. Charney is the Director of The Charles Bronfman Institute for Personalized Medicine and Vice Chair of the Windreich Department of AI and Human Health. Dr. Charney is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He studies the neurobiology of neuropsychiatric illness, focusing on translating genomic discoveries to experimental therapeutics. He advances the application of artificial intelligence and data science to mental health and healthcare research, including the integration of multimodal clinical, genomic, and digital data to improve disease understanding and treatment development. He is a leader in the field of psychiatric genomics.
Dr. Charney completed his psychiatry training and research fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai under the supervision of genomics experts Pamela Sklar, MD, and Eric Schadt, PhD. Soon after this, he established his own research lab at Mount Sinai and began work on the Living Brain Project, which has developed a novel framework for human brain research. Other projects he has been involved in include the COVID-19 Biobank Study, the PGC3 project, and the RECOVER project.
Nicole Simons, PhD, Program Director
Dr. Simons is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Windreich Department of Artificial Intelligence and Human Health. She obtained her PhD from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in 2025. Dr. Simons works closely with Drs. Kahn and Charney on key strategic initiatives within the Blau Center towards translating scientific discoveries into newer and better treatments for patients with schizophrenia.