Rate My Professor Alik Widge

Alik S. Widge, MD, PhD, is an Associate Professor with award of tenure in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Medical School. He holds graduate faculty appointments in Neuroscience, Biomedical Engineering, and Electrical & Computer Engineering. Widge earned a BA summa cum laude (Phi Beta Kappa, High Honors in Major) from Dartmouth College in 1999, an MD (Alpha Omega Alpha) from the University of Pittsburgh Medical Scientist Training Program in 2008, and a PhD in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University in 2007. He completed his psychiatry residency at the University of Washington in 2013 and conducted postdoctoral research at Massachusetts General Hospital from 2014 to 2015. Previously, he served as Assistant Professor and Instructor at Harvard Medical School and psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital. As a clinician, he provides neuromodulation services including transcranial magnetic stimulation, electroconvulsive therapy, and experimental deep brain stimulation.

Widge's research focuses on neuromodulation and brain-computer interfaces to develop treatments for psychiatric disorders such as depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, trauma-related conditions, and substance use disorders. His lab translates basic neuroscience into clinical technologies, including closed-loop deep brain stimulation that synchronizes brain oscillations and restores circuit function without invasive modifications. He leads major grants, including a DARPA FREUD award ($7.9 million, 2023-2027) for detecting suicidality, NIH R01 NS120851 on striatal deep brain stimulation (2021-2026), and NIH R01 MH123634 on implantable neurostimulators (2020-2025). His work has secured over $10 million in funding as principal or contact investigator. Widge has received the Society of Biological Psychiatry's A.E. Bennett Award for Clinical/Translational Research (2021), McKnight Land-Grant Professorship (2018), NIH BRAINS Young Investigator Award (2017), and University of Minnesota Outstanding Junior Mentor of the Year (2023). With over 7,900 citations on Google Scholar, key publications include 'Psychedelics and psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy' (American Journal of Psychiatry, 2020; 748 citations), 'Neuroimaging biomarkers in schizophrenia' (2021; 267 citations), and 'Striatal stimulation enhances cognitive control and evidence processing in rodents and humans' (Science Translational Medicine, 2024). He contributes to professional organizations as a full member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and serves on the American Psychiatric Association Board of Trustees.