Marc Potenza, PhD, MD
Cards
About
Titles
Steven M. Southwick Professor of Psychiatry and Professor in the Child Study Center and of Neuroscience
Director, Center of Excellence in Gambling Research; Director, Yale Program for Research on Impulsivity and Impulse Control Disorders; Director, Women and Addictive Disorders, Women's Health Research at YaleBiography
Dr. Potenza is a board-certified psychiatrist with sub-specialty training and certification in addiction psychiatry. He has trained at Yale University receiving a combined BS/MS with Honors in Molecular Biochemistry and Biophysics and a PhD in Cell Biology, the latter concurrent with the MD through the Medical Scientist Training Program. He completed internship, psychiatric residency and addiction psychiatry fellowship training at Yale. Currently, he is a Professor of Psychiatry, Child Study and Neuroscience at the Yale University School of Medicine where he is Director of the Division on Addictions Research at Yale, the Center of Excellence in Gambling Research, the Yale Research Program on Impulsivity and Impulse Control Disorders, and the Women and Addictive Disorders Core of Women's Health Research at Yale. He is also a Senior Scientist at the Connecticut Council on Problem Gambling. He is on the editorial boards of fifteen journals (including editor-in-chief of Current Addiction Reports) and has received multiple national and international awards for excellence in research and clinical care. He has consulted to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Registry of Effective Programs, National Institutes of Health, American Psychiatric Association and World Health Organization on matters of addiction.
Appointments
Psychiatry
ProfessorPrimaryNeuroscience
ProfessorSecondaryChild Study Center
ProfessorSecondary
Other Departments & Organizations
- Addictive Behaviors Core
- Center for Brain & Mind Health
- Center for Nicotine and Tobacco Use Research at Yale (CENTURY)
- Child Study Center
- Connecticut Mental Health Center
- Diabetes Research Center
- Division of Addictions
- Division of Human Genetics
- Division of Women's Behavioral Health Research
- Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program
- Neuroscience
- Neuroscience Research Training Program (NRTP)
- Neuroscience Track
- Psychiatry
- Psychotherapy Development Center
- Stress & Addiction Clinical Research Program
- Substance Abuse Research
- WHRY Research Cores
- Women's Health Research at Yale
- Wu Tsai Institute
- Yale Cocaine Research Clinic
- Yale Combined Program in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS)
- Yale Medicine
- Yale Program for Research on Impulsivity and Impulse Control Disorders
- Yale Stress Center
- Yale Ventures
Education & Training
- Addiction Psychiatry Fellow
- Yale (1999)
- Resident
- Yale (1998)
- MD
- Yale University School of Medicine (1994)
- PhD
- Yale University (1993)
Research
Overview
Dr. Potenza's research has focused on the neurobiology and treatment of substance and non-substance addictions and other disorders characterized by impaired impulse control, particularly the disorders characterized in DSM-IV as “Impulse Control Disorders Not Elsewhere Classified” and in DSM-5 and ICD-11 as behavioral addictions. He has focused on internet use behaviors and disorders such as gaming disorder and problematic pornography use, as well as compulsive sexual behavior disorder, binge eating disorder and food addiction. He has investigated mechanisms underlying the treatment of cocaine and opioid use disorders, as well as the neural correlates of prenatal cocaine use. Much of this work has focused on understanding clinical and neurobiological underpinnings of these disorders and experiences, and their co-occurrences with other mental health disorders, in order to advance prevention and treatment strategies. Dr. Potenza's research has applied brain imaging, genetic, epidemiological and clinical trials methodologies to gain knowledge and improve prevention and treatment strategies for addictive disorders. This work has also involved a specific focus on gender and identifying potential intermediary phenotypes, like facets of impulsivity, that may in part explain the high rates of co-occurrence between addictive disorders and other mental health conditions, and might represent novel targets for prevention and treatment strategies.
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH)
Academic Achievements and Community Involvement
Links & Media
News
- July 05, 2024Source: Yale News
Marc Potenza Named Steven M. Southwick Professor
- June 18, 2024Source: The New York Times
School’s Out. Time for a Social Media Reset
- May 13, 2024Source: NBC News
Online Gambling Trend Among Teens Causing Concern
- May 01, 2024Source: Psychology Today
The Reality of Teens and Weed