Andre Russowsky Brunoni, M.D., Ph.D.

Biography

Andre Russowsky Brunoni, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., is an internationally recognized psychiatrist, researcher and scientist whose pioneering work has transformed the field of neuromodulation and interventional psychiatry. After a successful trajectory at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of São Paulo Medical School and Director of the Interventional Psychiatry Division at the Institute of Psychiatry, Clinics Hospital, he joined UT Southwestern Medical Center as Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of the Peter O'Donnell Jr. Brain Institute in August 2025, being the Chief of the Division of Interventional Psychiatry.

Dr. Brunoni's research focuses on developing innovative therapeutic strategies using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and other neuromodulation techniques for treating major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, OCD, schizophrenia, and post-COVID cognitive symptoms. His landmark randomized clinical trial comparing tDCS with escitalopram for depression, published in the New England Journal of Medicine (2017), was a paradigm shift in the field, establishing tDCS as a potential alternative to pharmacotherapy.

One of Dr. Brunoni's major contributions has been his work on precision neuromodulation and biomarker development. His group has pioneered multimodal approaches integrating neuropsychological, neurophysiological, and neuroimaging techniques to uncover mechanisms behind therapeutic interventions and predict treatment response. His extensive publication record includes 432 peer-reviewed articles (Google Scholar H-index: 89, with over 40,800 citations), with several featured in top-tier journals including NEJM, JAMA Psychiatry, and Lancet Psychiatry. Recent articles from his group include results of rigorously designed clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of home-based tDCS for ADHD (Leffa et al., JAMA Psychiatry, 2022) and for depression (Borrione et al., JAMA Psychiatry, 2024), and accelerated theta-burst stimulation for depression (Rassi et al., JAMA Psychiatry, 2025). He has also published influential studies evaluating the impact of COVID on mental health (Brunoni et al., Psychol Med, 2023; GBD, Lancet, 2024).

As a leader in the field, Dr. Brunoni established the first Interventional Psychiatry Division in Brazil in 2021, integrating treatment services for ketamine, electroconvulsive therapy, and TMS. Under his leadership, the division oversees approximately 100 daily sessions of these interventions, while also managing the Resistant Depression and Suicidality Outpatient Clinic. He founded Brazil's first fellowship program in Interventional Psychiatry, training over 50 fellows in this emerging field.

Selected as a Dear Scholar at UT Southwestern, Dr. Brunoni will continue advancing neuromodulation research through developing clinical trials and building a team of researchers at his new institution. His research has secured approximately US$9 million in grants from prestigious institutions including NIH, the US Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, the Milken Institute, the UK Academy of Medical Sciences, and Brazil's São Paulo Research State Foundation. He has mentored 37 individuals, including medical students, graduate students, and post-doctoral researchers, many of whom have become successful researchers at prestigious academic institutions worldwide.