Hirofumi Morishita M.D. Ph.D
Professor
Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, & Ophthalmology
Mindich Child Health & Development Institute
Friedman Brain Institute
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai Faculty Profile
Department of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, & Ophthalmology
Mindich Child Health & Development Institute
Friedman Brain Institute
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Mount Sinai Faculty Profile
Hirofumi Morishita is a Tenured Professor of Psychiatry, Neuroscience and Ophthalmology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. He is also a faculty member of interdisciplinary Mindich Child Health & Development Institute, and Friedman Brain Institute. He directs the Laboratory for Developing Minds which studies the mechanisms of developmental critical periods for cortical maturation to establish perception and cognition relevant to psychiatric disorders. His laboratory takes an integrated approach, combining molecular, anatomical, imaging, electrophysiological, and behavior methodologies using mouse models. His research revealed key molecular and circuit level mechanisms of cortical maturation supporting perception (Journal of Neuroscience 2020, 2016, 2015, Science 2010), cognition (Neuron 2021, Science Advances 2020, Nature Communications 2020), and social behavior (Nature Neuroscience 2020, Nature Communications 2020). Hirofumi Morishita received his PhD from Osaka University after Psychiatry residency at National Center Hospital of Neurology and Psychiatry in Tokyo and medical school training at Kyushu University (MD). Before joining Mount Sinai, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at Takao Hensch lab, Children’s Hospital Boston, Harvard Medical School.
Appointments
- 2024-present, Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (Dual Appoinment)
- 2024-present, Director, Department of Mental Disorder Research, NCNP (Dual Appointment)
- 2022-24, Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- 2017-22, Associate Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- 2012-17, Assistant Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- 2006-2011, Postdoctoral Fellow, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School (Takao Hensch Lab)
- 2005-2006, Postdoctoral Fellow, RIKEN Brain Science Institute (Takao Hensch Lab), Japan
- 2001-2005, Graduate School Program, Osaka University (Takeshi Yagi Lab), Osaka, Japan
- 2000-2001, Psychiatry Residency Program (Director, Dr. Osamu Saitoh), National Hospital of Neurology and Psychiatry, Japan
- 1994-2000, Medical School Program, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
Awards & Honors
- 2022-: Editorial Board (Associate Editor, Neuroscience), Science Advances
- 2021-: Full Membership, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP)
- 2020: One Mind Bipolar Research Award
- 2020-: Regular Member, NIH study section Neuroscience of Basic Visual Processes (NBVP)
- 2016-: Associate Member, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP)
- 2015: Inaugural Faculty Innovative Collaborations-Idea Prize, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
- 2012: Travel Award, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP)
Funding
Active
- 2024-present: R01 MH118297, National Institute of Mental Health
- 2024-present: RF1 AG085887, National Institute of Aging
- 2024-present: R34 DA061263, National Institute of Drug of Abuse
Completed
- 2022-2024: SFARI pilot award
- 2020-2023: R01 EY031009, National Eye Institute
- 2019 - 2024: R01 MH119523, National Institute of Mental Health
- 2019 - 2024: R01 MH120265, National Institute of Mential Health
- 2021: Richard and Susan Friedman Research Scholar Award (with Dr. Rita Goldstein)
- 2019 - 2021: SFARI pilot award
- 2017 - 2019: R21 NS105119 (BRAIN Initiative), National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
- 2017 - 2019: R21 EY026702, National Eye Institute
- 2015 - 2021: R01 EY024918, National Eye Institute
- 2015 - 2019: R01 EY026053, National Eye Institute
- 2015 - 2017: R21 MH106919, National Institute of Mental Health
- 2014, 2016, 2019: Mindich Child Health & Development Institute Pilot Grant
- 2013 - 2015: Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Research Awards, March of Dimes
- 2012 - 2015: Research Grant, Whitehall Foundation
- 2012 - 2014: Early Career-Starter Research Grant, Knights Templar Eye Foundation
- 2012 - 2014: Young Investigator Award, National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD)
