Dr. Michele Pato is the inaugural director of the new Rutgers Center for Genomics of Psychiatric Health and Addiction and is Professor of Psychiatry in both Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and New Jersey Medical School, which started April 15, 2021. Dr. M Pato has co-led, with her Husband Dr. Carlos Pato, extensive population genetic studies in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder for over 30 years, including the Genomic Psychiatry Cohort (GPC) and the Portuguese Island Collection Studies. The GPC has enrolled nearly 65,000 participants, including people suffering from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, OCD, and 25,000 control participants. Many from diverse populations under-represented in research.
Dr. Michele Pato has an extensive background in research of psychiatric disorders, not just in terms of genetics but clinically as well. She has worked in numerous capacities for research training/education through academic appointments at 8 major universities, as well as APA, AAP, and AADPRT. Her publications are not just in the research science of medicine but often on how to teach and train people (medical students, residents and faculty) at all levels of training to do research.