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Jeffrey F. Scherrer, PhD
Current
Position
Research Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Health Sciences Specialist St. Louis Veterans Administration Medical Center
Education and Training
University of Missouri - St. Louis, Psychology BA
University of Missouri - St. Louis, Psychology MA
St. Louis University School of Public Health, Ph.D.
Areas of Research Interests
Physical health consequences of depression and anxiety disorders and the effect of mental health treatment on physical health outcomes. Currently funded by VA HSRD to study mediating role of health behaviors and treatment on pathways leading from depression to incident heart disease. The line of study uses mega-data bases from national electronic medical records.
I am also part of a team studying the offspring of twin fathers who have a history of licit and illicit substance abuse and dependence. We are particularly interested in detecting the environmental influences on young adult substance involvement in a paradigm that accounts for familial vulnerability.
Key Publications
Scherrer JF, Chrusciel T, Zeringue A, Garfield LD, Hauptman PJ, Lustman PJ, Freedland KE, Carney RM, Bucholz KK, Owen R, True WR. Anxiety disorders increase risk for incident myocardial infarction in depressed and nondepressed Veterans Administration patients. Am Heart J. 159(5): 772-9. Full Article ->
Scherrer JF, Virgo KS, Zeringue A, Bucholz KK, Jacob T, Johnson RG, True WR, Carney RM, Freedland KE, Xian H, Caplan L, McDonald J, Eisen SA.
Depression increases risk of incident myocardial infarction among Veterans Administration patients with rheumatoid arthritis.Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2009 Jul-Aug;31(4):353-9. Epub 2009 May 9
Full Article ->
Scherrer JF, Grant JD, Duncan AE, Pan H, Waterman B, Jacob T, Haber JR, True WR, Heath AC, Bucholz KK.
Measured environmental contributions to cannabis abuse/dependence in an offspring of twins design.
Addict Behav. 2008 Oct;33(10):1255-66. Epub 2008 May 24.
Full Article ->
Scherrer JF, Chrusciel T, Garfield LD, Freedland KE, Carney RM, Hauptman PJ, Bucholz KK, Owen R, Lustman PJ (2012 Feb). Treatment-resistant and insufficiently treated depression and all-cause mortality following myocardial infarction. Br J Psychiatry. 200(2): 137-42. Full Article ->
Xian H, Scherrer JF, Franz CE, McCaffery J, Stein PK, Lyons MJ, Jacobsen K, Eisen SA, Kremen WS.
Genetic vulnerability and phenotypic expression of depression and risk for ischemic heart disease in the Vietnam era twin study of aging.
Psychosom Med. 2010 May;72(4):370-5. Epub 2010 Feb 26
Full Article ->
Scherrer JF, Xian H, Bucholz KK, Eisen SA, Lyons MJ, Goldberg J, Tsuang M, True WR. A twin study of depression symptoms, hypertension, and heart disease in middle-aged men. Psychosomatic Medicine. 2003,65:548-557. Full Article ->
Funded Research Projects
Veterans Administration Health Service Research and Development Career Development Award-2: Heart Disease Among VA Patients with Depression
NIAAA(Key Personnel):Offspring of Twins: G, E and GxE Risks for Alcoholism
NIAAA(Key Personnel):Alcoholism: Epidemiologic High Risk Family Study - MOFAM
NIDA(Key Personnel):Gene Environment in Outcomes of Offspring of Twins with Substance Use Disorders
NIDA(Key Personnel):Environmental Risks for Smoking: A Genetically Informed Children of Twins Design