Randy P. Auerbach, Ph.D., ABPP is Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University and Division of Clinical Developmental Neuroscience, Sackler Institute. Additionally, he serves as Co-Director of the Center for the Prevention and Treatment of Depression at Columbia University and Co-Director for the WHO, World Mental Health International College Student Initiative. Dr. Auerbach received his B.A. from Cornell University (2000) and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from McGill University (2010). His research uses a multidisciplinary and multimodal approach (i.e., laboratory-based experiments, passive sensor data collection, electrophysiology, neuroimaging) to identify mechanisms that contribute to the onset of depression and suicidal behaviors in adolescents. Dr. Auerbach is Co-Investigator of the Conte Center for Suicide Prevention Project 5, “Stress, Inflammation, Aggression and Emotion Regulation in Suicidal Behavior”.
Research Focus
Dr. Auerbach’s research is committed to improving our understanding of depression and suicide in adolescents. His research aims to determine why depressive symptoms unfold, how self-injurious and suicidal behaviors develop, and what changes in the brain during treatment. As a whole, the research strives to better understand the putative mechanisms that may improve early identification of and treatment for adolescent depression and suicidal behaviors.
Select Publications
1. Auerbach, R. P., Lan, R., Galfalvy, H., Alqueza, K., Cohn, J. F., Crowley, R., Durham,
K., Joyce, K., Kahn, L. E., Kamath, R., Morrency, L.-P., Porta, G., Srinivasan, A., Zelazny, J., Brent, D. A., & Allen, N. B. (in press). Intensive longitudinal assessment of adolescents to predict suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
2. Li, L. Y., Trivedi, E., Helgren, F., Allison, G. O., Zhang, E., Buchanan, S. N., Pagliaccio, D., Durham, K., Allen, N. B., Auerbach, R. P., & Shankman, S. A. (in press). Capturing mood dynamics through adolescent smartphone social communication. Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science.
3. Pagliaccio, D., Bitran, A., Kirshenbaum, J. S., Alqueza, K., Durham, K., Chernick, L. S., Joyce, K., Lan, R., Porta, G., Brent, D. A., Allen, N. B., & Auerbach, R. P. (in press). Testing the interpersonal theory of suicide in adolescents: A multi-wave longitudinal study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.
4. Pagliaccio, D., Kumar, P., Kamath, R., Pizzagalli, D. A., & Auerbach, R. P. (2023). Neural sensitivity to peer feedback and depression symptoms in adolescence: A 2-year multi-wave longitudinal study. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 64, 254-264.
5. Auerbach, R. P., Pagliaccio, D., Hubbard, N., A., Frosch, I., Kremens, R., Cosby, E., Jones, R., Siless, V., Lo, N., Henin, A., Hofmann, S., Gabrieli, J. D. E., Yendiki, A., Whitfield-Gabrieli, S., & Pizzagalli, D. A. (2022). Reward-related circuitry in depressed and anxious adolescents: A human connectome project. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 61, 308-320.
6. Auerbach, R. P., Srinivasan, A., Kirshenbaum, J., Mann, J. J., & Shankman, S. A. (2022). Geolocation features differentiate healthy from remitted depressed adults. Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, 131, 341-349.
7. Allison, G. O., Benau, E., Asbaghi, S., Pagliaccio, D., Stewart, J. G., & Auerbach, R. P. (2021). Neurophysiological markers related to negative self-referential processing differentiate adolescent suicide ideators and attempters. Biological Psychiatry: Global Open Science, 1, 16-27.
8. Auerbach, R. P., Pagliaccio, D., Allison, G. O., Alqueza, K. L., & Alonso, M. F. (2021). Neural correlates associated with suicide and non-suicidal self-injury in youth. Biological Psychiatry, 89, 119-133.
9. Mann, J. J., Michel, C. A., & Auerbach, R. P. (2021). Improving suicide prevention through evidenced-based strategies: A systematic review. American Journal of Psychiatry, 178, 611-624.
10. Pagliaccio, D., Alqueza, K. L., Marsh, R., & Auerbach, R. P. (2020). Brain volume abnormalities in youth at high risk for depression: Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development Study. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 59, 1178-1188.