Biosketch

Julie Kreyenbuhl, Pharm.D., Ph.D.

Julie Kreyenbuhl, Pharm.D., Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and a research investigator with the VA Capitol Health Care Network (VISN 5) Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center (MIRECC). She completed her clinical pharmacy training at Mercer University Southern School of Pharmacy in 1993 and received a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Health Services Research from the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy in 1999. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center in 2000. Dr. Kreyenbuhl is a first author or a co-author on over 30 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Dr. Kreyenbuhl's primary research focus is the pharmacoepidemiology of schizophrenia, which involves examining prescription patterns and outcomes of pharmacologic treatments in typical clinical practice settings. In 2003, she was awarded a 5-year National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) K01 Research Career Award to study the roles of the clinician, patient, and family in the process of prescription decision-making related to the use of complex, multi-drug regimens ('polypharmacy') in schizophrenia, with a particular focus on the use of antipsychotic polypharmacy. Dr. Kreyenbuhl is also interested in the development and implementation of evidence-based treatment guidelines for schizophrenia. She serves as the principal investigator of a 2-year NIMH R13 grant that involves updating the Schizophrenia Patient Outcomes Research Team (PORT) Treatment Recommendations and has contributed to the development of the most recent update of the American Psychiatric Association’s Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients with Schizophrenia.

Dr. Kreyenbuhl is also interested in the patterns and outcomes of use of medications for somatic conditions such as Type 2 diabetes in individuals with serious mental illnesses. In 2005, she received a Young Investigator Award from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) to investigate whether patients with schizophrenia and Type 2 diabetes exhibit differential rates of adherence to hypoglycemic medications versus antipsychotic medications, and whether patients with schizophrenia exhibit differential rates of adherence to hypoglycemic medications compared to patients without a psychiatric disorder.  She has also examined the management of risk for cardiovascular disease among patients with severe mental illnesses and Type 2 diabetes and is interested in the metabolic adverse effects of second-generation antipsychotic agents in these patients.