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Dr. Siegel received a BA in Philosophy, Neuroscience and Psychology from Washington University, completed an MD & PhD in systems neuroscience in WUSM’s Physician Scientist Training Program and completed residency in Psychiatry. He joined the NYU Department of Psychiatry and Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research in August 2024. Dr. Siegel has 15 years experience in neuroscience and has published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles in the fields of neuroimaging and neuropsychopharmacology.
At WUSM, Dr. Siegel was involved in developing novel tools for defining brain networks in single individuals using resting-state fMRI—an approach known as Precision Functional Mapping (PFM). These projects yielded new insights into human brain organization, achieving reproducibility and effect sizes far surpassing those obtained with conventional fMRI methods.
Dr. Siegel’s work now focuses on the biology of rapid-acting antidepressants. He designed and led** Missouri’s first clinical trial of a classic psychedelic—psilocybin—integrating PFM to examine its acute and enduring effects on brain networks. This study was highly successful, culminating in a publication in Nature (Psilocybin desynchronizes the human brain). At WUSM Dr. Siegel taught a graduate course on rapid-acting antidepressants, led a journal club dedicated to emerging therapeutics, and with Dr. Nicol founded a psychedelics research program. These initiatives helped catalyze institutional investment in psychedelic science and supported the launch of a dedicated research program led by Dr. Ginger Nicol.
Currently, Dr. Siegel serves as a faculty member at NYU Langone’s Center for Psychedelic Medicine and the Center for Biomedical Imaging and Neuromodulation at the Nathan Kline Institute (NKI). His laboratory focuses on developing neuroimaging biomarkers of target engagement for next-generation psychiatric therapeutics. Using precision functional mapping, his team quantifies how psychedelics and other rapid-acting antidepressants alter brain networks within individuals, providing mechanistic insights and translational endpoints that can accelerate early-phase clinical development. Their work integrates advanced fMRI, and pharmacologic probes to link molecular receptor engagement with circuit-level reconfiguration and behavioral change.
**with generous support from the Department of Psychiatry, Usona Institute, the Taylor Family Institute Fund for Innovative Psychiatric Research, C-BRiMD, the McDonnell Center for Systems Neuroscience, and Ginger Nicol and the Center for Holistic Interdisciplinary Research in Psychedelics, and Nico Dosenbach and the Network Plasticity Lab.