Joseph Biederman

Joseph Biederman (29 September 1947 - 5 January 2023) was Chief of the Clinical and Research Programs in Pediatric Psychopharmacology and Adult ADHD at the Massachusetts General Hospital, professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Biederman was Board Certified in General and Child Psychiatry.

From 2019 to 2022, His citation metrics placed him in the top 0.01% of scientists across all fields. Although his biggest focus was on attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in youth and adults, he also contributed many studies of obsessive-compulsive disorders, bipolar disorder, tic disorders, depression, and substance use disorders in youth. Due to this work, he is regarded as the father of pediatric psychopharmacology

Awards and Honors

In 1995 Biederman was inducted into the CHADD Hall of Fame He was awarded the 2021 World Federation of ADHD Gold Medal Award for lifetime contributions to the field of ADHD. In 2023 he was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Professional Society of ADHD and Related Disorders. During his lifetime, he was awarded over 15 million dollars in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health to support his research into the nature, causes and treatment of mental health disorders in youth.

Research Funding

During his lifetime, he was awarded over 15 million dollars in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health to support his research into the nature, causes and treatment of mental health disorders in youth. Johnson & Johnson gave more than $700,000 to a research center headed by Biederman, which was involved in research on Risperdal, the company's antipsychotic drug.

Relationship with Pharmaceutical Companies

In 2008, Senator Chuck Grassley, undertook an investigation that alleged that Joseph Biederman had violated federal regulations in addition to Harvard Medical School's and Massachusetts General Hospital's research rules by receiving money from pharmaceutical companies. According to newspaper reports, Dr. Biederman received research funding from 15 drug companies and served as a paid speaker or adviser to seven, including Eli Lilly & Co. and Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Biederman earned consulting fees of at least $1.6 million over eight years from pharmaceutical companies.

Subsequent to these reports, the Massachusetts General Hospital launched an investigation. Dr. Biederman has said that he was not influenced by the money and that some of his work supported drugs other than Risperdal. In 2011, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School disciplined Biederman for small clerical errors that violated conflict of interest policies. Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School found no ethical violations and nothing to question the integrity of research he published about relevant drugs. No evidence was presented to support newspaper reports that Prof. Biederman had violated federal regulations or had engaged in unethical behavior or scientific misconduct. Thus, he retained his Professorship at Harvard and his positions at the Massachusetts General Hospital where he was subsequently awarded an endowed Chair.

According to ProPublica's drug company money database, Biederman received over $3,000 from pharmaceutical company Shire's North American division in 2018, mainly for consulting.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Biederman, Joseph
American psychiatrists
Living people
Bipolar disorder researchers
Harvard Medical School faculty
Medical controversies in the United States
1947 births
Physicians of Massachusetts General Hospital