About Dr Andrade

Each month in his online column, Chittaranjan Andrade, MD ([email protected]) considers theoretical and practical ideas in clinical psychopharmacology with a view to update the knowledge and skills of medical practitioners who treat patients with psychiatric conditions.

Dr Andrade is a psychiatrist with more than four decades of experience. He is Adjunct Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal and Senior Professor (retd) in the Department of Clinical Psychopharmacology and Neurotoxicology at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, India.

His academic record comprises 25 prizes in pre-collegiate education, 4 prizes during collegiate education (including the 4th rank in the State of Karnataka), 9 prizes and gold medals in medical college (including the best outgoing student award in the university), and the gold medal for standing first in the university in the postgraduate examinations.

He has received 3 international awards, 12 national awards (including all the major awards of the Indian Psychiatric Society), and more than 10 state and other awards in recognition of his research. He has published more than 20 books, about 40 chapters in various texts, and around 600 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals. His work has received >11,000 citations (ResearchGate) in the scientific literature (H-index, 47). In a study published from Stanford University in 2020, he was listed among the top 2% of world scientists in the discipline of psychiatry and was the top-ranked in India. In ResearchGate, he is listed among the top 1% out of more than 20 million scientists from 192 countries.

Dr Andrade conducts training and research in clinical psychopharmacology in general and electroconvulsive therapy and ketamine therapy in particular. He was formerly involved in the research and development of herbal psychotropic medicinal substances. He has completed a large number of studies in animal models as well as in human subjects in both alternative medicinal and modern medicinal fields.

Dr Andrade is a member of the editorial boards of both The Journal of ECT and Brain Stimulation. He is also the Field Editor for Clinical Therapeutics for the journal Bipolar Disorders. He serves on the editorial boards of several other journals, including The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Asian Journal of Psychiatry, International Journal of Bipolar Disorders, Biomarkers in Neuropsychiatry, Indian Journal of Psychiatry, and Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine. He is and has been a member of various other boards, committees, and task forces at both national and international levels.

Dr Andrade is an experienced research methodologist with additional expertise in statistical methods. He conducts courses in statistics and research methodology. He is also a committed educator. He publishes an independent, thrice-weekly electronic newsletter, the Synergy Times, which, since 2001, has been reaching psychiatrists across the world. Dr Andrade also runs the e-Journal Club India initiative which, since 2016, has been providing education and guidance on issues related to research to postgraduate students and academic psychiatrists in the country.

Dr Andrade has also published various print newsletters down the years; these had an extensive national circulation among psychiatrists and physicians, and a small international circulation, as well. Presently, he publishes a monthly, indexed column in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (running since 2012) and a Critical Readings in Psychiatry book series, the 12th volume of which was recently released.

Dr Andrade is an active freelance journalist with a crossword column that has been running for 8 years. He has published 3 books for children and around 800 articles in various newspapers and magazines. He has played 4 musical instruments for several orchestras and musical groups in Bangalore. He composes music, has written the anthems of 2 schools and 1 college, and has featured often in radio and television broadcasts. He has been a state-level middle-distance athlete, a rock-climber, and a mountaineer; he has completed 6 mountaineering expeditions and has scaled 10 peaks in the Himalayas, as well as Mount Kilimanjaro, which is the world’s highest free-standing mountain and one of the Seven Summits of the World. He performs stage and close-up magic as additional interests.

Financial Disclosure

Dr Andrade has been publishing an e-newsletter, supported by Sun Pharmaceuticals, since 2001; the payments are made directly to registered charities and he does not benefit financially from the relationship. He accepts gifts from pharmaceutical organizations when these are part of a general program. These gifts are small in value and include textbooks or products such as delegate kits that are distributed to participants at academic meetings and conferences. His travel and local hospitality to deliver invited lectures and to conduct invited workshops at institutions or at conferences is supported by the organizers at the institutions or conferences. He has provided guidance to a medical team from Sun Pharmaceuticals to enable them to prepare and publish a review article to an open access journal; he was listed as an author and received no other compensation, monetary or otherwise, for the guidance provided. He has received speaker fees from Lupin Ltd and Renowa Edutech Private Limited.