Keith S. Garcia, M.D., Ph.D.

DEPARTMENT OF Psychiatry
Keywords: repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation, rTMS, electroconvulsive therapy, ECT, vagus nerve stimulation, VNS, depression, postpartum depression, posttraumatic stress disorder

My goal is to further the investigation of neurophysiologic mechanisms contributing to psychiatric illness. My primary research interest is the advancement of new brain stimulation techniques for the treatment of psychiatric illness. Experience across the field of neuroscience has demonstrated the investigational power of combining neurophysiological stimulation and recording techniques to understand the structure and function of the central nervous system. I believe these techniques, such as, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) along with fMRI and PET scans will be instrumental in the development of better treatments for psychiatric illness.

I have attained research expertise employing device based psychiatric care. Since 2002, I have concentrated on the completion of psychiatric TMS clinical outcome studies, planning collaborative TMS treatment projects with general medicine and ENT. In the near future, I will incorporate collaborative functional imaging techniques to investigate the underlying brain changes that correlate with treatment response across the realm of various brain disorders.

I welcome collaboration with investigators wishing to study brain stimulation treatment for systemic diseases that may have a CNS component. The developments of novel clinical treatment trials can only further the understanding of neurophysiologic influences on medical and psychiatric disease.