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Marc Potenza, PhD, MD

Steven M. Southwick Professor of Psychiatry and Professor in the Child Study Center and of Neuroscience
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Additional Titles

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 Yale

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 Yale

Biography

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

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
  • MR Center
  • 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 Research Interests

Child Psychiatry; Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders; Gambling; Neurobiology; Psychiatry; Psychiatry and Psychology; Psychotherapy; Substance-Related Disorders

Research at a Glance

Yale Co-Authors

Frequent collaborators of Marc Potenza's published research.

Publications

2025

2024

See All Publications

Clinical Trials

Current Trials

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • honor

    Doctor et Professor Honoris Causa (Honorary Doctorate and Professor in Psychological Science), Eötvös Loránd University

    International Award
  • honor

    Phoenix Award for Achievement in Addiction Research, the Green Crescent Society

    International Award
  • honor

    Research Award, Society for the Advancement of Sexual Health

    National Award
  • honor

    Lifetime Research Award, the National Council on Problem Gambling

    National Award
  • activity

    Gambling

    Research
See All Achievements

Get In Touch

Contacts

Email
Academic Office Number
Appointment Number
Office Fax Number
Clinic Fax Number
Mailing Address

Psychiatry

I Church Street, 7th floor

New Haven, CT 06510

United States