Stephen Ross

Stephen Ross is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. After graduating phi beta kappa from the University of Pennsylvania and majoring in the biological basis of behavior, Dr. Ross received his medical degree from the UCLA School of Medicine, completed residency in General Psychiatry at Columbia University & the New York State Psychiatric Institute and received fellowship training in Addiction Psychiatry at the NYU School of Medicine & Bellevue Hospital. He is certified in General and Addiction Psychiatry from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) and in Addiction Medicine by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM). Dr. Ross is the Director of the Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse at Bellevue Hospital, Clinical Director of the NYU Langone Center of Excellence on Addiction, and Director of the NYU Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship. He is a clinician, administrator, educator, and clinical researcher. Dr. Ross has been recognized locally and nationally for excellence in teaching, having received 9 teaching awards related to the education of medical students, psychiatry residents, and post-graduate fellows.

His research interests revolve around exploring novel diagnostic and treatment approaches to addictive spectrum illnesses and psychological distress in patients with advanced or terminal cancer. His active projects related to addiction include: Neurokinin 1 antagonist effects and neuro-economic paradigm testing in intravenous heroin dependence (supported by a NIDA RO1); Cocaine Use Reduction Buprenorphine (CURB) NIDA Clinical Trials Network (CTN 0048); Genetic and Psychosocial Determinants of Prescription Opioid Dependence (research collaborative with the Geisinger Health System and NYU/Bellevue Hospital, supported by the NYU School of Medicine); Novel Treatment Approaches for Dually Diagnosed Adolescent Inpatients (Bellevue Hospital); Naloxone Distribution Opioid Overdose Prevention Program (Bellevue Hospital). He has expertise in the therapeutic application of serotonergic hallucinogens to treat psychiatric and addictive spectrum illnesses. As the Principal Investigator of the NYU Psilocybin Cancer Project, he is exploring the potential therapeutic efficacy of psilocybin-assisted existentially oriented psychotherapy to treat psycho-spiritual distress in patients with advanced cancer. Research funding comes from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the NYU School of Medicine, and the Heffter Research Institute.

The long-term goal of his research is to discover novel pharmacologic and psycho-social treatment paradigms for addictive disorders and for psychological and spiritual distress associated with advanced or terminal cancer. Dr. Ross is also interested in expanding the research focus of our federally funded addictive disorders laboratory at Bellevue Hospital to address the needs of particularly vulnerable and under-served populations with substance use disorders including adolescents, pregnant women and the elderly.