Leadership

The NKI executive team provides leadership and strategic planning for the Institute, and is responsible for the management and oversight of NKI’s diverse research portfolio.

Donald C. Goff, M.D.

Donald C. Goff, M.D.

Director, Nathan S. Kline Institute

Donald C. Goff, MD, is the fourth Director in the 60+ year history of NKI, having assumed this position on February 13, 2012. Dr. Goff is also Professor and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Psychiatry at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine.

Donald Goff came to NKI from Boston where he had been Director of the Schizophrenia Program at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is a native Californian who earned his undergraduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley, and his medical degree at UCLA. He completed his internship in internal medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and his residency in Psychiatry at MGH. Following his medical residency, Dr. Goff completed a research fellowship in psychopharmacology at Tufts-New England Medical Center.

At MGH, Dr. Goff built a translational research program consisting of 16 investigators with expertise in pharmacology, genetics, imaging, cognitive neuroscience, and cognitive behavioral therapy. His group has done pioneering work in the areas of functional imaging, metabolic effects of second generation antipsychotics, and glutamatergic agents. Dr. Goff has been the principal investigator for many studies concerning the treatment and management of schizophrenia.

Dr. Goff has published over 200 articles concerning schizophrenia and related topics. He was the recipient of the Kempf Award for Mentorship in Biological Psychiatry from the American Psychiatric Association; the Wayne Fenton, MD, Award for Exceptional Clinical Care; and the Stanley Dean Award for Research in Schizophrenia from the American College of Psychiatrists. He is also a member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Antonio Convit, M.D.

Antonio Convit, M.D.

Deputy Director, Nathan S. Kline Institute

Antonio Convit, MD, has been a member of the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research since 1991 and is a Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine, and Radiology at the NYU School of Medicine. Antonio is a native Venezuelan, who earned his undergraduate degree in Epidemiology and Environmental Health at George Washington University, Washington D.C., and his medical degree at the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Medicine. He completed his residency in Psychiatry at New York Medical Center and has been part of the NYS OMH and NYU School of Medicine his whole career.

Dr. Convit has had a wide array of scientific interests and has been funded by the National Institutes of Health in three separate areas. Early in his research career he concentrated on studies of psychiatric violence, particularly among forensic patients. As he became interested in more direct brain assessments, and by interacting with other researchers utilizing MRI and PET imaging tools, his research interests shifted to understanding the medical mechanisms that were associated with non-degenerative cognitive dysfunction in older age. As the logical extension of this previous work, more recently he has focused on the impact of obesity and obesity-associated metabolic dysregulation, including type 2 diabetes, on cognitive functions and brain structural integrity.

Dr. Convit has published over 130 articles, the last 60 of which have focused on the impact of obesity and associated metabolic disease on brain health, an area where he is a nationally recognized authority. Dr. Convit’s current work seeks to better understand brain health in the context of physical health. This is in keeping with current health trends where the goal is to treat individuals more holistically, recognizing that medical health affects brain health and vice versa. Having demonstrated that obesity affects the ability of adolescents to learn and do well in school, Dr. Convit started the Banishing Obesity and Diabetes (BODY) Project, which is a public heath outreach program where adolescents in public schools, after consent from the parents, get evaluated medically and then receive an easy-to-understand summary of their medical numbers together with lifestyle advice as to how to improve those medical numbers. This program has been very successful and conducted nearly four thousand evaluations.

Thomas Cunningham, M.B.A.

Thomas Cunningham, M.B.A.

Deputy Director, Institute Administration, Nathan S. Kline Institute

Tom Cunningham opens the line of communication between patients, staff, and businesses to get projects done. With over 20 years experience in both public and private sectors, Mr. Cunningham has experience in management consultation, team building, professional development, strategic implementation, and company collaboration. He has managed projects at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Weill Medical College of Cornell University. Mr. Cunningham holds an MBA from Mount Saint Mary’s College.