Gil

Hoftman

, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor
Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Biography

Dr. Gil Hoftman recently joined the UCLA Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Division as a Health Sciences Clinical Instructor. His goal is to become an independent investigator leading an innovative and prolific research program studying the molecular mechanisms underlying cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia, with an emphasis on understanding the cell and circuit specific developmental trajectories of these key molecular components. The underlying motivation for studying the development and dysfunction of cognitive control in schizophrenia is to improve patients’ lives by identifying biologically informed, innovative approaches to treat cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia and by ideally preventing or delaying the premorbid developmental lag in cognitive control and the onset of psychosis in people with schizophrenia. In particular, he is passionate about understanding complex brain disorders like schizophrenia by using integrative, complementary approaches. One strategy for understanding the pathophysiology of a multifaceted syndrome like schizophrenia is to study the normal development of affected brain circuitry central to the disorder. At UCLA, he plans to pursue studies of both typical and pathological neurodevelopment by leveraging novel, integrative neurobehavioral genetics and neuroimaging approaches.

Education

UCLA, BS
University of Pittsburgh/Carnegie Mellon University, MD/PhD
Western Psychiatric Hospital/UPMC & UCLA, Adult Psychiatry Residency
Western Psychiatric Hospital/UPMC, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship
UCLA, T32 Neurobehavioral Genetics Postdoctoral Fellowship

Research & clinical interests

Research interests: Neurobiology of psychosis risk, neurodevelopment, neurobehavioral genetics, imaging genomics/transcriptomics, molecular alterations in neural circuitry underlying cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia, neuromodulation
Clinical interests: Schizophrenia spectrum and related psychotic disorders, clinical high risk for psychosis, 22q11.2 deletion syndrome psychosis, neuromodulation

Roles within the division/Fellowship

Teaching psychosis risk assessment and treatment
Teaching neuroscience in psychiatry
Strategic planning for research
CAP Fellow supervision