Francisco Xavier Castellanos

F. Xavier Castellanos (born November 16, 1953) is a Bolivian neuroscientist who is the director of research at the NYU Child Study Center. His work aims at elucidating the neuroscience of ADHD through structural and functional brain imaging studies, collaborating on molecular genetic studies, and coordinating an interdisciplinary network of translational investigators (the ADHD Neuroscience Network). Dr. Castellanos chaired the NIH ‘Initial Review Group’ (Study Section) on Developmental Psychopathology and Developmental Disabilities from 2005–2007 and is chairing the revision of the diagnostic criteria for externalizing disorders for the forthcoming edition of DSM-V, projected for 2012. He continues to make significant contributions to research into the neurobiological substrates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.

Biography
Francisco Xavier Castellanos was born in Madrid, Spain, on November 16, 1953, to Bolivian parents. When he was four, he, his mother and his two siblings returned to Bolivia, where they lived until he was nine, when the family moved to Washington, D.C. and a year later, to New Orleans, Louisiana. An avid reader, especially intrigued with science and math, he attended Catholic schools in New Orleans and later received a scholarship to Vassar College, where he became fascinated with the work of Noam Chomsky. At Vassar, he established an independent major in linguistics and graduated with honors in 1975.

After graduation, working as a professional translator in New Orleans, during which time he translated Jean Piaget's Epistemology and Psychology of Functions: Studies in Genetic Epistemology from French to English, Dr. Castellanos began work on a master's degree in experimental psychology at The University of New Orleans, where he became fascinated by the discovery of endorphins. Following this interest, he applied to and was accepted at The Louisiana State University Medical College at Shreveport. After winning several awards, including the prestigious Chancellor's Award for Overall Excellence and induction into AOA, the national medical honor society, he graduated in 1986 and continued his medical training at The University of Kentucky, where he was one of the first graduates of the "Triple Board" program in psychiatry, pediatrics and child psychiatry. During his residency, he won the Abraham Wikler, M.D. Award for Outstanding Psychiatry Resident and was awarded a mini-fellowship in the American Psychiatric Association's Program for Minority Research Training in Psychiatry.

In 1991, Dr. Castellanos became a Research Fellow in the Child Psychiatry Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health, where he worked under the supervision of Dr. Judith L. Rapoport. As a senior staff fellow, he was the head of the ADHD Research Unit and received an award for Excellence in Clinical Care and Research from the National Institute of Mental Health. During this time he also became a fellow in the American Academy of Pediatrics.

In 2001, he left the NIMH to assume the position of Director of Research Training at the New York University Child Study Center.

Dr. Castellanos is the Brooke and Daniel Neidich Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the New York University School of Medicine. He is also the director of research at the NYU Child Study Center and the Director of the Phyllis Green and Randolph Cōwen Institute for Pediatric Neuroscience. He is board certified by the American Board of Pediatrics and the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology in general psychiatry.

Awards and recognition
Dr. Castellanos is a 2005 NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Grantee. In 2015, he won the Ruane Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Research, given by the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.

Selected publications

 * Stimulant Drugs and ADHD: Basic and Clinical Neuroscience.

Edited by Mary V. Solanto, Amy F. T. Arnsten and F. Xavier Castellanos. Oct 2000, Oxford University Press. Characterizing cognition in ADHD: beyond executive dysfunction. Trends Cogn Sci. 2006 Mar;10(3):117-23. Varieties of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-related intra-individual variability. Biol Psychiatry. 2005 Jun 1;57(11):1416-23. Anatomic brain abnormalities in monozygotic twins discordant for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 2003 Sep;160(9):1693-6. Blumenthal JD, James RS, Ebens CL, Walter JM, Zijdenbos A, Evans AC, Giedd JN, Rapoport JL. Developmental trajectories of brain volume abnormalities in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. JAMA. 2002 Oct 9;288(14):1740-8. Neuroscience of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: the search for endophenotypes. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2002 Aug;3(8):617-28. Mapping the functional connectivity of anterior cingulate cortex. Neuroimage. 2007 Aug 15;37(2):579-88. Shehzad Z, Di Martino A, Biswal B, Sonuga-Barke EJ, Rotrosen J, Adler LA, Milham MP. Cingulate-Precuneus Interactions: A New Locus of Dysfunction in Adult Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. Biol Psychiatry. 2007 Sep 20; Competition between functional brain networks mediates behavioral variability. Neuroimage. 2007 Aug 23.
 * Castellanos FX, Sonuga-Barke EJ, Milham MP, Tannock R.
 * Castellanos FX, Sonuga-Barke EJ, Scheres A, Di Martino A, Hyde C, Walters JR.
 * Castellanos FX, Sharp WS, Gottesman RF, Greenstein DK, Giedd JN, Rapoport JL.
 * Castellanos FX, Lee PP, Sharp W, Jeffries NO, Greenstein DK, Clasen LS,
 * Castellanos FX, Tannock R.
 * Margulies DS, Kelly AMC, Uddin LQ, Biswal BB, Castellanos FX, Milham MP.
 * Castellanos FX, Margulies DS, Kelly C, Uddin LQ, Ghaffari M, Kirsch A, Shaw D,
 * Kelly AMC, Uddin LQ, Biswal BB, Castellanos FX, Milham MP.