Stephan F Taylor

Stephan F. Taylor received his B.A. from Northwestern University, where he majored in psychology and philosophy, and he went on to receive his M.D. degree in 1988 from Washington University. He completed a residency in psychiatry and a fellowship at the Mental Health Research Institute at the University of Michigan. He was appointed as a lecturer in Psychiatry in 1993, rising through the ranks to Professor in Psychiatry and a Faculty Associate in the Department of Psychology. In 2022, he was installed as the inaugural Albert J. Silverman, M.D., C.M., Research Professor of Psychiatric Disorders. He has carried out multiple administrative roles in the Department of Psychiatry and the medical school. He served on the medical school IRB for 14 years, 8 of those as a vice-chair. In 2015, he was appointed as Co-Associate Chair for Research and Research Regulatory Affairs in Psychiatry, and in October of 2024, he stepped down from that position to take on the role of Interim Chair of the Department of Psychiatry in 2024. In September of 2025, when he was appointed by the dean as the permanent chair of the department. With the chair appointment, he also became the Daniel E. Offutt III Professor of Psychiatry

Dr. Taylor conducts transdiagnostic research in major psychiatric disorders (schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, bipolar disorder), using brain mapping (magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, electroencephalography, positron emission tomography) and brain stimulation technologies (deep brain stimulation [DBS], transcranial magnetic stimulation [TMS]) to understand and treat the pathophysiology of these conditions. His work has also investigated processes and neurocircuits relevant to these diseases, such as the brain systems which underlie emotion, performance monitoring, and cognitive-emotional interactions. He and his colleagues conducted some of the earliest brain imaging work on the neurocircuitry of emotion, synthesizing findings with influential meta-analytic work. He has conducted and led clinical trials of DBS in depression and OCD, as well as leading studies of non-invasive brain stimulation, such as TMS. This work has also involved collaborations across campus and with colleagues at other institutions, such as the National Network of Depression Centers, where he co-directed a multi-site TMS trial. He also started and directs the TMS program in the Department of Psychiatry, providing treatment for patients with refractory depression. His other area of clinical expertise is in the treatment of schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. He founded and directs the Program for Risk Evaluation and Prevention (PREP) early psychosis clinic to provide state-of-the art, multi-specialty evaluation and treatment for early psychosis, as well as conducting research in this population. This work in psychosis has also included national collaborations through the NIMH-funded Early Psychosis Intervention Network, which has laid the foundations for a learning health system.

Dr. Taylor is a past present of the Psychiatric Research Society, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. His research has been funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, and more. He has published over 190 peer-reviewed articles and serves on numerous editorial boards, grant review committees and national advisory boards.