Psychiatric Disease Program

Edward Scolnick

Edward Scolnick

Edward Scolnick is director of the Psychiatric Disease Program and the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute. He works closely with principal investigator Pamela Sklar towards identifying risk genes for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

From 1982-2003, Ed served as president of Merck Research Laboratories; executive vice president for science and technology at Merck & Company, Inc; executive director and vice president in the department of virus and cell biology and senior vice president for basic research at Merck Research Laboratories.

Prior to joining Merck, he worked at the National Cancer Institute where he demonstrated the cellular origin of sarcoma virus oncogenes in mammals and defined specific genes that cause human cancer. He also worked at the National Heart Institute where his work defined the stop signals in the genetic code and the biochemical mechanism that produces the stops.

Ed was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1984 and to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1993. He became a member of the Institute of Medicine in 1996 and served on the Board of Directors of Merck & Co., Inc. from 1997 to 2002. He recently was selected as Regents' Lecturer, University of California at Berkeley, Frank H.T. Rhodes Class of '56 University Professor at Cornell University, and appointed to the Board of Visitors at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

He currently serves on the board of directors for Millipore Corporation; Renovis, Inc.; and TransForm Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; and on the Medical and Scientific Advisory Board for MPM Capital. He was a member of the FDA Science Board from 2000 to 2002.

Ed holds an A.B. from Harvard College and an M.D. from Harvard University Medical School.