David Kimhy, PhD
Dr. David Kimhy is a Research Scientist at the VISN 2 MIRECC and an Associate Professor, Director of the Experimental Psychopathology Laboratory, and Program Leader for New Interventions in Schizophrenia at the Department of Psychiatry at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Kimhy completed a 3-year NIMH-funded post-doctoral fellowship in schizophrenia research at the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University. During this period, he also served as a Beck Institute Scholar at the Beck Institute for Cognitive Behavior Therapy. Following his post-doctoral training, he joined the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University and The New York State Psychiatric Institute where he served as faculty for 12 years before joining MIRECC and Mount Sinai.
Dr. Kimhy's work centers on using translational approaches to develop cognitive and behavioral interventions to address cognitive, affective, and social functioning difficulties in individuals with serious mental illness (SMI). Current lines of work include:
- Use of aerobic exercise to improve neurocognition, symptoms, suicide risk and functioning in individuals with schizophrenia and SMI.
- Development of in cognitive and behavioral intervention to improve affective and social functioning in individuals with schizophrenia.
- Use of mobile phone technologies to conduct ambulatory assessment of symptoms, stress, emotion regulation, and functioning in individuals with schizophrenia and SMI.
Dr. Kimhy pioneered the use of mobile phone technologies in the study of schizophrenia, has extensive experience studying and teaching CBT for psychosis (CBTp), and is a world leading researcher in the use of aerobic exercise training to improve neurocognition, symptoms, and functioning in SMI populations.
Research Interests
Schizophrenia, psychosis, suicide, cognitive and behavioral interventions, exercise, cbt for psychosis, clinical trials, neurocognition, affective and social functioning, mobile assessment, technology and mental health, early intervention
Grants
Improving Cognition via Exercise in Schizophrenia (2017-2021)
Role: Co-principal investigator. Funding source: NIMH.
Optimizing and Personalizing Interventions for Schizophrenia Across the LifeSpan (2018-2022)
Role: Co-principal investigator (Project III). Funding source: NIMH.
Thought Disorder and Social Cognition in Clinical Risk States for Schizophrenia (2017-2021)
Role: Co-investigator. Funding source: NIMH.
Using the RDoC to Understand Thought Disorder: A Linguistic Corpus-Based Approach (2018-2021)
Role: Co-investigator. Funding source: NIMH.
Hippocampal Inflammation as a Pathophysiology for Psychosis (2017-2022)
Role: Co-investigator. Funding source: NIMH.
The Influence of Aerobic Exercise on Cognitive Functioning in Schizophrenia (2012-2015)
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: NIMH.
Psychosis in Schizophrenia: Mechanisms of Recovery (2007-2012)
Role: Principal investigator. Funding source: NIMH.
The Influence of Arousal on Paranoia in Schizophrenia: An Experience Sampling Study (2009-2011)
Role: Principal Investigator. Funding source: NIMH.
Clinical Trials
Improving Cognition via Exercise in Schizophrenia
Start date: April 2018. Anticipated completion date: August 2021.
The Influence of Aerobic Exercise on Cognitive Functioning in Schizophrenia
Start date: April 2012. Completion date: July 2014.
Psychosis in Schizophrenia: Mechanisms of Recovery
Start date: November 2008. Completion date: June 2012.
In the News
Hearing Voices Others Can't: How a Growing Movement Fights Mental Health Stigma (NBC News, November 2018)
Physical Activity May Be Therapeutic in Severe Mental Illness (Reuters Health, October 2018)
Mental Illness Is More Than Just Depression and Anxiety (New York Magazine, August 2016)
Exercise Might Boost Mental Function in People with Schizophrenia (U.S. News & World Report, April 2015)
Can You Diagnose a Manic Episode on Twitter? (New York Magazine, August 2013)
How Secret Spying Programs Affect the Clinically Paranoid (Scientific American, July 2013)
Publications (Selected)
A full list of Dr. Kimhy’s publications can be found here.
Kimhy D, Wall M, Hansen MC, Vakhrusheva J, Choi J, Delespaul P, Tarrier N, Sloan RP, Malaspina D. autonomic regulation and auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia: an experience sampling study. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 2017.
Kimhy D, Gill KE, Brucato G, Vakhrusheva J, Arndt L, Gross JJ, Girgis RR. The impact of emotion awareness and regulation on social functioning in individuals at clinical high-risk for psychosis. Psychological Medicine, 2017.
Kimhy D, Vakhrusheva J, Bartels MN, Armstrong HF, Ballon JS, Khan S, Chang RW, Hansen MC, Ayanruoh L, Lister A, Castrén E, Smith EE, Sloan RP. The impact of aerobic exercise on brain-derived neurotrophic factor and neurocognition in individuals with schizophrenia: A single-blind, randomized clinical trial. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 2015.
Kimhy D, Myin-Germeys I, Palmier-Claus J, Swendsen J. mobile assessment guide for research in schizophrenia and severe mental disorders. Schizophrenia Bulletin, 2012.
Kimhy D, Vakhrusheva J, Jobson-Ahmed L, Tarrier N, Malaspina D, Gross JJ. Emotion awareness and regulation in individuals with schizophrenia: implications for social functioning. Psychiatry Research, 2012.
