A. John Rush | |
|---|---|
| Born | Augustus John Rush December 15, 1942 New Jersey, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Princeton University, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania |
| Known for | his research on the development and testing of innovative treatments for major depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder |
| Awards | Thomson Reuters: World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds (2014) American Psychiatric Association (APA): Award for Research in Psychiatry (2007) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Psychiatrist |
| Institutions | University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Duke-NUS Medical School |
Augustus John Rush (born December 15, 1942) is an internationally renowned psychiatrist. He is a professor emeritus in Duke-NUS Medical School at the National University of Singapore (NUS), [1] [2] He has authored and edited more than 10 books, and over 600 scientific journal articles that are largely focused on the diagnosis and treatment of depressive and bipolar disorders. [1]
Rush grew up in New Jersey with his younger sister. He graduated valedictorian from the Pingry School, an independent, college preparatory country day school in New Jersey. Rush earned his bachelor's degree in biochemistry, cum laude, from Princeton University in 1964, and his medical degree from the Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons in 1968. [3] Following his general medical internship at Passavant Hospital, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois, [3] he served as a general medical officer in the U.S. Army in Nuremberg, Germany. [4] Following an additional year of government service in the Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention in Washington, D.C., [4] he completed his psychiatric residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [3] There, he established the Depression Clinic with Manoochehr Khatami, M D. He collaborated with his mentor Aaron T. Beck M.D. in the specification and initial testing of cognitive therapy for depression. [5]
As assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Oklahoma, he led the third year medical student rotation in psychiatry and founded the Depression Clinic.
He then joined the Department of Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas as associate professor, Professor and subsequently Vice Chair in Psychiatry. [3]
He was later also appointed Vice Chair and Professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences at UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. [3]
Subsequently, as Professor and Vice Dean of Clinical Sciences at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore from 2008 to 2013, [1] he established and developed specialized programs to launch and support patient-oriented research careers for clinicians by creating the Academic Medicine Research Institute, and a program in clinical research for third-year medical students. [1]
He also served as founding CEO of the Singapore Clinical Research Institute from 2008-2012. [4]
He has supervised psychiatric residents and faculty as adjunct professor of psychiatry, Duke School of Medicine, Durham NC (2009-2023), and as Adjunct Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Texas Tech University, Premium Basin, TX (2016-2021). [6]
Since 2014, he has offered his research consulting and academic mentoring services through his company, Curbstone Consultant LLC, Dallas Texas. [7]
His research has focused on the development and testing of innovative treatments for depressive and bipolar disorders including medications, medication combinations, somatic treatments, psychotherapy, and disease management protocols. [3] Rush's work is widely recognized nationally and internationally, and has received awards from many professional organizations including the American College of Psychiatrists, American Psychopathological Association the National Alliance for Research in Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders, the American Psychiatric Association and the Society for Biological Psychiatry, among others. [3] In 2014, Thomson Reuters recognized Dr. Rush as one of the “World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds”. [8]
His work has entailed foundational contributions to psychiatry across multiple domains, particularly in the diagnosis and treatment of mood disorder. [8]
Rush collaborated with Aaron T. Beck in the early development, specification and evaluation of cognitive therapy, co-authoring pivotal studies that established its efficacy for depression. [9] [10] His work helped transition cognitive therapy from a research concept into a structured, replicable treatment for depressed adults, and then later depressed adolescents (with Chris Wilkes), and those with bipolar disorder, with Monica Basco, PhD. [11]
He has played a role in the development and testing of novel pharmacologic treatments for mood disorders. Rush conducted influential studies on valproate for bipolar disorder and fluoxetine for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), among others, expanding the therapeutic toolkit for challenging psychiatric conditions. [12]
Rush has been a leading advocate for measurement-based care (MBC) in psychiatry. He co-authored a widely cited policy framework outlining how MBC could be implemented into routine psychiatric practice to improve treatment outcomes. [13] His work led to the creation of widely used outcome rating tools, including the Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (IDS) [14] and the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology (QIDS), to assess depressive symptom severity and assist in clinical decision-making. [15]
Rush chaired the DSM-IV Mood Disorders Work Group and contributed to the development of practice guidelines for mood disorders, ensuring diagnostic criteria were informed by both clinical evidence and consensus. [16] He also led efforts in the creation and perspective evaluation of treatment sequences, such as the Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP) [17] and the STAR*D (Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression) trials, which remain key models for treating difficult-to-treat depression in real-world settings. [18]
Advancing Real-World Evidence and Learning Health Systems
Rush has advocated for a learning health care system in psychiatry. He has emphasized the need to close information, evidence, and implementation gaps through the systematic collection and analysis of real-world clinical data. [16] His recent work highlights the use of systematic diagnostic and outcome assessments, and the potential for digital tools, and AI to provide more responsive, patient-centered care. [19]
Advancing research and clinical care for difficult to treat depression:
In 2019, Rush and colleagues introduced the concept of difficult to treat depression (DTD) critiquing traditional treatment-resistant depression (TRD) definitions and advocating for broader, patient-centered outcome metrics beyond depressive symptoms to include daily function, quality of life, functional and the durability of treatment effects. Rush urged systematic evaluation to uncover underlying treatable conditions in presumed treatment-resistant cases and called for improved study designs to ensure broader applicability. and proposed alternative metrics for evaluating long-term outcomes emphasizing sustained patient functioning and quality of life over short-term symptom relief. [20]
Rush has two sons, Matthew John Rush and Augustus John Rush III, and four grandchildren. He presently resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with his wife, Dee Miller Rush. He provides consultation to individuals as well as academic, governmental and industrial organizations.
