Patricia Rosebush, M.Sc.N., MD, FRCP(C)

Dr. Rosebush is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioural Neurosciences at McMaster University where she is actively involved in research and teaching, particularly in the area of neuropsychiatry.  She graduated from the University of Toronto with a Master of Science in nursing, completed medical school at McMaster and her residency training and fellowship at Harvard Medical School.  She is widely published and has authored several book chapters.  From 1988 to 2007 she was the Director of acute inpatient psychiatry.  Over the course of her career she has developed large data bases in the following areas:

1. Prospective study of first onset psychosis: Since 1988, Dr. Rosebush has treated and studied over 500 first-onset psychosis patients.  Efficacy of psychopharmacological treatments, course of illness, and the short and long term neurological sequelae have been recorded prospectively in this large comprehensive database.  Dr. Rosebush, with her husband, neurologist and neuroscientist, Dr. Michael Mazurek, combines her substantial clinical experience with laboratory experimentation. For example, they have reported the persistent loss of tyrosine hydroxylase immunoreactivity in the substantial nigra after neuroleptic medication.
2. Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS): Dr. Rosebush has personally studied and followed a large series of patients with this condition.  Her sample is the largest in the world and she has elucidated the biochemical profile, proposed a model for the pathophysiology of the condition, determined the most effective treatment, identified new risk factors and studied when patients can be treated with neuroleptics again.
3. The neuropsychiatry of inherited metabolic disorders such as adult-onset Tay Sachs disease, metachromatic leukodystrophy and adrenoleukodystrophy.
4. Catatonia: To date, Dr. Rosebush has prospectively studied 160 episodes of catatonia with attention to phenomenology, response to treatment, underlying diagnoses and prognosis. This constitutes by far the largest study of such a population in the world.
5. Late-onset delusional disorder: Dr. Rosebush has been prospectively studying and followed a large cohort of patients with this condition from the time of their first presentation. Stability of diagnosis, response to treatment, medication side effect profile, underlying medical/neurological illnesses, prognosis and outcome are addressed in her studies.
6. Conversion disorder: Since 1990 Dr. Rosebush has personally studied and followed and treated 85 patients with severe conversion disorder.  Development of effective treatment has been the focus of this study.  Increased awareness of this disorder will lead to earlier detection and appropriate treatment.