George Aghajanian


George K. Aghajanian is an Emeritus Foundations Fund Professor at the Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, in the Department of Psychiatry. He has been a pioneer in the area of neuropharmacology. He has also served as a member of NARSAD Scientific Advisory Board.

Early life and education

George Aghajanian was born on 14 April 1932 in Beirut, Lebanon. He received his B.A. from Cornell University, followed by his Doctor of Medicine at Yale University.

Research and career

Aghajanian did his research on the actions of LSD by which it produces hallucinations in the brain, and he has also uncovered the therapeutic mechanism of atypical antipsychotic drugs. He also found that application of serotonin produces an increase in the frequency and amplitude of spontaneous excitatory postsynaptic potentials in layer V pyramidal cells of the neocortex and transitional cortex by whole-cell recording in rat brain slices. He did research on the structure and mechanism of psychotropic drugs and neurotransmitters.
He was a medical officer in the United States Army in the starting days of his career. He served different positions at the Yale School of Medicine, including Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, Foundations Fund Professor of research in Psychiatry.

Awards and honors

Aghajanian received the CINP Pioneer Award from the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He also received the Lieber Prize for research on schizophrenia. Additional awards include the Daniel H. Efron Research Award and the Julius Axelrod Mentorship Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the Scheele Award from the Swedish Academy of Pharmacy, and the Heffter Award from the Heffter Research Institute, and election to the National Academy of Medicine.

Selected publications