Ahmad Hariri Director, Developmental Imaging Genetics Program, Department of Psychiatry & Psychology University of Pittsburgh Email: haririar@upmc.edu

Ph. D. University of California, Los Angeles Research Interests Dr. Hariri's interest in identifying the biological mechanisms which give rise to individual differences in behavior are rooted in his undergraduate studies of evolutionary biology and the unique role of natural selection in sculpting not only the physical but also psychological characteristics of higher vertebrates. A growing desire to study factors influencing variability in human behavior led Dr. Hariri to pursue doctoral work in Neuroscience. While a doctoral student working with Susan Bookheimer, PhD at UCLA, he pursued the unique opportunity to study the neurobiological basis of complex human behaviors with fMRI. His early work led to important models of how the dynamic interactions of the amygdala and prefrontal cortex mediate emotional arousal and regulation. Dr. Hariri continued his research on the neurobiology of emotional behaviors as a postdoctoral fellow with Daniel Weinberger, MD at the NIMH. It was during his time in Dr. Weinberger's lab that Dr. Hariri discovered that unprecedented insight to the biological pathways mediating variability in behavior could be gleaned through the powerful synergy of molecular genetics and neuroimaging. Through such "imaging genetics" research, Dr. Hariri and his collaborators have revealed specific neurobiological pathways through which common genetic polymorphisms can impact normal variability in behavior as well as risk for neuropshychiatric disease in the context of precipitating environmental factors. Dr. Hariri has recently added PET to his arsenal of imaging genetics tools, with early multimodal studies revealing specific molecular substrates which may mediate the effects of genetic polymorphisms on the function of neural circuitry supporting emotional behavior. He is extremely enthusiastic about the potential of imaging genetics to reveal the complex interplay of genes, brain and behavior in the near future. Recent Publications Forbes EE, Brown SM, Kimack M, Ferrell RE, Manuck SB, Hariri AR: Genetic variation in components of dopamine neurotransmission impacts ventral striatal reactivity associated with impulsivity. Molecular Psychiatry (Epub ahead of print), 2007. Manuck SB, Brown SM, Hariri AR: Temporal stability of individual differences in amygdala reactivity. American Journal of Psychiatry, 164(10): 1613-1614, 2007. Fisher PM, Meltzer CC, Ziolko SK, Price JC, Hariri AR: Capacity for 5HT1A mediated autoregulation predicts amygdala reactivity. Nature Neuroscience, 9(11): 1362-2363, 2006. Hariri AR, Brown SM, Williamson DE, Flory JD, deWit H, Manuck SB: Preference for immediate over delayed rewards is associated with magnitude of ventral striatal activity. The Journal of Neuroscience, 26(51): 13213-13217, 2006. Hariri AR, Holmes A: The serotonin transporter and the genetics of affect regulation. Trends in Cognitive Science, 10(4): 182-191, 2006. Hariri AR, Lewis DA: Genetics and the future of clinical psychiatry. American Journal of Psychiatry, 163(10): 1676-1678, 2006. Neumann SA, Brown SM, Ferrell RE, Flory JD, Manuck SB, Hariri AR: Human choline transporter gene variation is associate with corticolimbic reactivity and autonomic-cholinergic function. Biological Psychiatry 60(10):1155-1162, 2006. Brown SM, Peet E, Manuck SB, Williamson DE, Dahl RE, Ferrell RE, & Hariri AR: A regulatory variant of the human tryptophan hydroxylase-2 gene biases amygdala reactivity. Molecular Psychiatry, 10(9): 884-888, 2005.