Additional Titles & Roles
- Director, Treatment Resistant Depression and Neurostimulation Clinic
- Director, Washington University Center for the Advancement of Research in Resistant Mood and Affective Disorders (CARRMA)
- Interventional Psychiatry Rotation Director
Education & Training
- Residency: Duke University, Durham, NC, 1999
- MD: University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, 1995
- BA: Biology: St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO, 1987
- BA: Psychology: St. Louis University, St. Louis, MO, 1987
Major Awards
- Ziskind-Somerfeld Research Award, Society of Biological Psychiatry, 2016
- Best Doctors in America, (Best Doctors, Inc.), 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
- Resident Faculty Teaching Award, Washington University, 2014
- Resident Mentor Award, Washington University, 2011
- NARSAD Sidney Baer Award, 2007
- Resident Faculty Teaching Award, St. Louis University, 2004, 2007
Areas of Clinical Interest
mood disorders, treatment-resistant mood disorders, bipolar disorders
Research Interests
treatment-resistant depression (TRD) phenomenology, novel treatments for TRD, neuroimaging of mood disorders, bipolar disorders
Key Publications
- Conway CR, Kumar A, Xiong W, Bunker M, Aaronson ST, Rush AJ. Chronic Vagus Nerve Stimulation Significantly Improves Quality of Life in Treatment-Resistant Major Depression. J Clin Psychiatry. 2018; Aug 21;79(5). PMID: 30152645.
Read publication »Chronic Vagus Nerve Stimulation Significantly Improves Quality of Life in Treatment-Resistant Major Depression. - Aaronson ST, Sears P, Ruvuna F, Bunker M, Conway CR, Dougherty DD, Reimherr FW, Schwartz TL, Zajecka JM. A 5-Year Observational Study of Patients With Treatment-Resistant Depression Treated With Vagus Nerve Stimulation or Treatment as Usual: Comparison of Response, Remission, and Suicidality. Am J Psychiatry, 2017 Mar. PMID: 28359201.
Read publication »A 5-Year Observational Study of Patients With Treatment-Resistant Depression Treated With Vagus Nerve Stimulation or Treatment as Usual: Comparison of Response, Remission, and Suicidality. - Conway CR, George MS, Sackeim HA. Toward an Evidence-Based, Operational Definition of Treatment-Resistant Depression: When Enough Is Enough. JAMA Psychiatry, 2017. 74(1): 9-10. PMID: 27784055.
Read publication »Toward an Evidence-Based, Operational Definition of Treatment-Resistant Depression: When Enough Is Enough. - Nagele P, Palanca BJ, Gott B, Brown F, Barnes L, Nguyen T, Xiong W, Salloum NC, Espejo GD, Lessov-Schlaggar CN, Jain N, Cheng WWL, Komen H, Yee B, Bolzenius JD, Janski A, Gibbons R, Zorumski CF, Conway CR, (2021 06). A phase 2 trial of inhaled nitrous oxide for treatment-resistant major depression. Sci Transl Med. 13(597):
Read publication »A phase 2 trial of inhaled nitrous oxide for treatment-resistant major depression. - Nagele P, Duma A, Kopec M, Gebara MA, Parsoei A, Walker M, Janski A, Panagopoulos VN, Cristancho P, Miller JP, Zorumski CF, Conway CR. Nitrous Oxide for Treatment-Resistant Major Depression: A Proof-of-Concept Trial. Biological Psychiatry. 2015; Jul 1; 78(1). PMID: 25577164.
Read publication »Nitrous Oxide for Treatment-Resistant Major Depression: A Proof-of-Concept Trial. - Conway CR, Chibnall JT, Gebara MA, Price JL, Snyder AZ, Mintun MA, Craig AD, Cornell ME, Perantie DC, Giuffra LA, Bucholz RD, Sheline YI, (2013 Sep). Association of cerebral metabolic activity changes with vagus nerve stimulation antidepressant response in treatment-resistant depression. Brain Stimul. 6(5): 788-97.
Read publication »Association of cerebral metabolic activity changes with vagus nerve stimulation antidepressant response in treatment-resistant depression.
Funded Research Projects
Lead Investigator for RECOVER national trial: A prospective, multicenter, randomized controlled, blinded trial demonstrating the safety and efficacy of Vagus Nerve Stimulation as an adjunctive therapy versus a no stimulation control in subjects with treatment-resistant depression.
American Foundation of Suicide Prevention (Co-PI). Adjunctive Nitrous Oxide for Acute Suicidal Ideation in Unipolar Depressed Hospitalized Patients.
Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (Co-I). Inhaled Nitrous Oxide for Treatment-Resistant Depression: Optimizing Dosing Strategies.
NIMH R21 (Co-PI). Targeting Affective Circuits Using the N-methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA) Antagonist Nitrous Oxide.
Taylor Family Institute for Innovative Psychiatric Research (PI): Biological and Psychological Phenomenology Studies of Treatment-Resistant Depressive Disorder.