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James Potash, MD, Psychiatry, Baltimore, MD

JamesBennettPotashMDMPH

Psychiatry • Baltimore, MD

Henry Phipps Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Department Director and Psychiatrist-in-Chief, Johns Hopkins Medicine

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Summary

  • Dr. Potash returned to Johns Hopkins as Director of Psychiatry and Psychiatrist-in-Chief in 2017. Prior to that he was Chair and Department Executive Officer of the University of Iowa Department of Psychiatry from 2011-17. Dr. Potash graduated in 1984 from Yale College, where he majored in English. Following graduation, he served in the Peace Corps in the West African country of Senegal, and there decided to become a physician. He completed his master’s degree in public health at Johns Hopkins, focusing on epidemiology and international health. He then went on to medical school at Hopkins, medical internship at Hopkins Bayview, and a year working as a general practitioner in another West African country, Benin. He returned to do his psychiatric residency at Hopkins and served as chief resident in 1997-98. He then joined the mood disorders program, and eventually became the program’s research director before moving to Iowa.

    Dr. Potash’s work has focused on investigation of the genetic and epigenetic basis of mood disorders—depression and bipolar disorder. These efforts have resulted in over 170 publications and consistent NIH funding. He has been particularly interested in the genetic basis of the psychotic forms of bipolar disorder, and in the epigenetic mechanisms through which stress plays a role in depression.

    Dr. Potash co-leads the Bipolar Sequencing Consortium, and is a member of the Council on Research for the American Psychiatric Association. He serves as Treasurer for the International Society for Psychiatric Genetics, and he has played a leading role in the National Network of Depression Centers.

    In addition to his research endeavors, Dr. Potash is also an active clinician who sees mood disorders patients in the inpatient and outpatient settings.

Education & Training

  • Johns Hopkins University
    Johns Hopkins UniversityResidency, Psychiatry, 1995 - 1998
  • Johns Hopkins University/Bayview Medical Center
    Johns Hopkins University/Bayview Medical CenterInternship, Internal Medicine, 1993 - 1994
  • Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
    Johns Hopkins University School of MedicineClass of 1993
  • Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health
    Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public HealthM.P.H., Epidemiology and International Health, 1988 - 1989
  • Goucher College
    Goucher College--, Post-baccalaureate (Pre-med), 1987 - 1988
  • Yale College
    Yale CollegeB.A., English, Cum Laude, 1980 - 1984

Certifications & Licensure

  • FL State Medical License
    FL State Medical License 2023 - Present
  • MD State Medical License
    MD State Medical License 1994 - 2025
  • IA State Medical License
    IA State Medical License 2011 - 2018
  • American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology Psychiatry

Awards, Honors, & Recognition

  • Independent Investigator Award NARSAD, 2008
  • Robins-Guze Award American Psychopathological Association, 2003
  • Mead Johnson Fellow in Public Psychiatry American Psychiatric Association, 1996
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Publications & Presentations

PubMed

Journal Articles

  • Detecting Significant Genotype–Phenotype Association Rules in Bipolar Disorder: Market Research Meets Complex Genetics  
    John Kelsoe, Melvin McInnis, James Potash, William Lawson, John Rice, Evaristus Nwulia, William Byerley, Francis J McMahon, John Nurnberger, Wade Berrettini, Cinnamon ..., Springer Open
  • Characterizing the genetic basis of transcriptome diversity through RNA-sequencing of 922 individuals  
    Battle A, Mostafavi S, Zhu X, Potash JB, Weissman MM, McCormick C, Haudenschild CD, Beckman KB, Shi J, Mei R, Urban AE, Montgomery SB, Levinson DF, and Koller D, Genome Res, 1/1/2014
  • Integrating GWAS and human protein interaction networks identifies a gene sub-network underlying alcohol dependence  
    Han S, Yang B-Z, Kranzler HR, Liu X, Zhao H, Farrer LA, Boerwinkle E, Potash JB, Gelernter J, Am J Hum Genet, 12/5/2013
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Lectures

  • Psychiatry Postgraduate Conference 
    UI Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa - 10/11/2013
  • Psychiatry Postgraduate Conference 
    UI Carver College of Medicine, Iowa City, Iowa - 10/11/2013

Press Mentions

  • 'More Ill, More Desperate': How Hospitals Are Responding to Changing Mental Health Trends
    'More Ill, More Desperate': How Hospitals Are Responding to Changing Mental Health TrendsNovember 15th, 2021
  • Psilocybin Research at Johns Hopkins
    Psilocybin Research at Johns HopkinsOctober 17th, 2019
  • Magic Mushrooms as Medicine? Johns Hopkins Scientists Launch Center for Psychedelic Research. Say Psychedelics Could Treat Alzheimer’s, Depression and Addiction
    Magic Mushrooms as Medicine? Johns Hopkins Scientists Launch Center for Psychedelic Research. Say Psychedelics Could Treat Alzheimer’s, Depression and AddictionSeptember 12th, 2019
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Grant Support

  • A Genome-Wide Approach To The Epigenetics Of Stress And DepressionNational Institute Of Mental Health2011
  • 1/2 RARE Bipolar Loci Identification Through Synaptome SequencingNational Institute Of Mental Health2010–2011
  • A Genome-Wide Approach To The Epigenetics Of Stress And DepressionNational Institute Of Mental Health2010
  • Genetic Linkage And Association In Bipolar DisorderNational Institute Of Mental Health2005–2009
  • Genetics Of Early Onset DepressionNational Institute Of Mental Health2006–2008
  • Epigenetic Variation And Its Determinants In DepressionNational Institute Of Mental Health2005–2008
  • Studies Of Genomic Imprinting In Bipolar DisorderNational Institute Of Mental Health2001–2005

Professional Memberships

Dr. James Potash, Dr. James Potash, MD, Dr. J Potash, Dr. James Bennett Potash