Charles Raison, MD, is the Director of Clinical and Translational Research at Usona Institute. He is also the Mary Sue and Mike Shannon Chair for Healthy Minds, Children & Families and Professor, School of Human Ecology, and Professor, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin–Madison. Prior to this he was Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, and the Barry and Janet Lang Professor of Integrative Mental Health at the Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Arizona.
In addition to his academic positions, Dr. Raison serves as the founding Director of the Center for Compassion Studies in the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Arizona and is the mental health expert for CNN.com. Dr. Raison has an undergraduate degree in anthropology from Stanford University and a Master’s degree in English literature from the University of Denver.
He received his medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO and did his residency training in psychiatry at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA, where he later served as Director of Emergency Psychiatry Services. Dr. Raison is internationally recognized for his studies examining novel mechanisms involved in the development and treatment of major depression and other stress-related emotional and physical conditions, as well as for his work examining the physical and behavioral effects of compassion training.
The recipient of several teaching awards, Dr. Raison has received research funding from the National Institute of Mental Health, National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Raison received the Raymond Pearl Memorial Award from the Human Biology Association “in recognition of his contributions to our understanding of evolutionary biocultural origins of mental health and illness,” and was recently recognized as one of five university-wide “Faculty of Excellence” at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.