Dmitri Young, PhD, MS
Assistant Professor
Psychiatry
School of Medicine

Dr. Dmitri Young is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco, and a Staff Research Psychologist at the San Francisco VA Medical Center.

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His research focuses on understanding the genetic, neurobiological, and behavioral underpinnings of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), with particular attention to the neurological basis of trauma-related threat sensitivity and impulsivity. Research indicates that both threat sensitivity and impulsivity are connected to adverse outcomes such as aggression and risky behaviors in individuals with PTSD. Therefore, Dr. Young’s goal is to develop empirically supported, biologically based, personalized treatments that reduce harm and improve quality of life for those with PTSD. He has served as the Principal Investigator on multiple funded projects supported by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the National Institute of Mental Health, and other agencies.

Education & Training

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• Advanced Fellowship in Clinical Research San Francisco VA Medical Center 08/2019
• NIMH Postdoctoral Fellowship University of California San Francisco 06/2016
• PhD Clinical Psychology Columbia University 10/2013
• Clinical Internship University of California San Francisco 06/2012
• MS Psychological Statistics Columbia University 02/2011
• BA Psychology University of California San Diego 06/2006

Grants and Projects

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• Neurofunctional Differences in Cognitive and Behavioral Impulsivity in Veterans with PTSD, NIH, 2020-2025
• Individual Variation in Effects of Traumatic Stress on Gray Matter Myelin, NIH, 2019-2023

Publications (9)

Top publication keywords:
Dissociative DisordersStress Disorders, Post-TraumaticCrime VictimsFearPituitary-Adrenal SystemHypothalamo-Hypophyseal SystemBrain-Derived Neurotrophic FactorReflex, StartleAdult Survivors of Child AbusePsychological TraumaVeteransCorpus CallosumTacrolimus Binding ProteinsGulf WarImpulsive Behavior

• Drug-facilitated sexual assault, impaired trauma memory, and implications for mental health treatment.
  European journal of psychotraumatology 2022 Fields L, Young DA, Patel AR, Munroe C, Shumway M, Bell S, Richer LA
• Ventromedial and insular cortical volume moderates the relationship between BDNF Val66Met and threat sensitivity.
  Journal of psychiatric research 2021 Young DA, Chao LL, Zhang H, Metzler T, Ross J, Richards A, O'Donovan A, Inslicht SS, Neylan TC
• Impulsivity as a multifactorial construct and its relationship to PTSD severity and threat sensitivity.
  Psychiatry research 2020 Young DA, Neylan TC, Zhang H, O'Donovan A, Inslicht SS
• Child abuse interacts with hippocampal and corpus callosum volume on psychophysiological response to startling auditory stimuli in a sample of veterans.
  Journal of psychiatric research 2019 Young DA, Neylan TC, Chao LL, O'Donovan A, Metzler TJ, Inslicht SS
• Association among anterior cingulate cortex volume, psychophysiological response, and PTSD diagnosis in a Veteran sample.
  Neurobiology of learning and memory 2018 Young DA, Chao L, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A, Metzler TJ, Inslicht SS

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• The interaction of BDNF Val66Met, PTSD, and child abuse on psychophysiological reactivity and HPA axis function in a sample of Gulf War Veterans.
  Journal of affective disorders 2018 Young DA, Neylan TC, O'Donovan A, Metzler T, Richards A, Ross JA, Inslicht SS
• The effects of early trauma and the FKBP5 gene on PTSD and the HPA axis in a clinical sample of Gulf War veterans.
  Psychiatry research 2018 Young DA, Inslicht SS, Metzler TJ, Neylan TC, Ross JA
• The relationship between childhood abuse and violent victimization in homeless and marginally housed women: The role of dissociation as a potential mediator.
  Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy 2017 Young DA, Shumway M, Flentje A, Riley ED
• Effects of FVB/NJ and C57Bl/6J strain backgrounds on mammary tumor phenotype in inducible nitric oxide synthase deficient mice.
  Transgenic research 2007 Davie SA, Maglione JE, Manner CK, Young D, Cardiff RD, MacLeod CL, Ellies LG