Conor Liston, MD, PhD | UW Psychiatry Grand Rounds

Neuroimaging Biomarkers for Diagnosing Neurophysiological Subtypes of Depression and Predicting Treatment Response

Conor Liston, MD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Neuroscience
Brain and Mind Research Institute
and Department of Psychiatry
Weill Cornell Medicine

Conor Liston, MD, PhD is an Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Psychiatry in the Feil Family Brain and Mind Research Institute and the Department of Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medicine. The long-term goals of his research program are to define mechanisms by which prefrontal cortical brain circuits support learning, memory, and motivation, and to understand how these functions are disrupted in depression, addictions, and other stress-related psychiatric disorders. To this end, experiments in his lab integrate optogenetic tools and genetically encoded calcium indicators with two-photon imaging and functional MRI, and his team is actively developing new methods for quantifying prefrontal cortical microcircuit dynamics in genetically defined neuronal subtypes. They are also developing novel neuroimaging tools for informing psychiatric diagnosis in human populations and predicting treatment response to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and other neurostimulatory antidepressant interventions.

Dr. Liston graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College in 1998, and received his PhD and MD from The Rockefeller University and Weill Cornell Medicine in 2007 and 2008, respectively, where he was supported by a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for New Americans. He subsequently completed his residency in psychiatry at New York–Presbyterian Hospital and postdoctoral training at Stanford University. He returned to Weill Cornell as an Assistant Professor in 2014. His research has been recognized with awards from the Klingenstein-Simons Foundation Fund, the Rita Allen Foundation, the Dana Foundation, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and the One Mind Institute. Dr. Liston is also a clinically active psychiatrist specializing in the management of treatment-resistant mood disorders.

Accreditation Statement

In support of improving patient care, the University of Wisconsin-Madison ICEP is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Credit Designation Statement:

The University of Wisconsin-Madison ICEP designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)TM.  Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. The University of Wisconsin–Madison ICEP, as a member of the University Professional & Continuing Education Association (UPCEA), authorizes this program for 0.1 CEUs or 1.0 hour.