Robert Hedaya, MD, ABPN, DLFAPA, IFMCP

ROBERT J. HEDAYA, MD, ABPN, DLFAPA, IFMCP, is a caring compassionate doctor who is devoted to restoring each of his patients to health. He gets to know each patient thoroughly – psychologically and medically. Dr. Hedaya has been at the cutting edge of medical practice, psychiatry, and psychopharmacology since 1979. He has decades of clinical training and experience, is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, a Distinguished Fellow of American Psychiatric Association, and is certified as proficient in psychopharmacology by The American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology. Dr. Hedaya acquired specialized training in psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health.

Clinician and Professor

Dr. Hedaya is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical Center, where has been awarded the “Teacher of the Year” while teaching courses on Affective Disorders, Cognitive Therapy and PNIE (Psycho-neuro-Immuno-endocrinology).

Dr. Hedaya teaches Functional Medicine both locally and nationally. He teaches physicians regularly at the Institute for Functional Medicine, The Walsh Research Institute, Georgetown University School of Medicine, as well as local physicians. He teaches about Mood disorders, PTSD, Precision Medicine, Genetics, Methylation, Functional Gastroenterology, Endocrinology and Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, Infectious Medicine and Toxicology, as applied to Neuropsychiatric disorders.

Dr. Hedaya is a faculty member and master clinician at the Institute for Functional Medicine.

Visionary Thinker and Author

With the publication of his first book, Understanding Biological Psychiatry, he pioneered the use of Functional Medicine in the psychiatric field. In it, he explains how the brain works and how brain function relates to physical symptoms and cognitive and emotional well-being.

His second book, The Anti-depressant Survival Program, Dr. Hedaya notes that there is a dark side to these “wonder drugs” — punishing side effects such as weight gain, lethargy, and sexual dysfunction that afflict up to 80 percent of the people who take them. Until now, side effects sufferers have had nowhere to turn for help. All too often their doctors dismiss side effects as “necessary evils” and urge patients to “learn to live with them.” Beginning with a Five-Day Jump Start that motivates and shows quick results, Dr. Hedaya takes you to step by step through his lifestyle program for restoring lost vitality, sex drive and desired weight. Then he offers results-oriented advice about how to work with your doctor to supplement vital hormones, vitamins, and micronutrients that are often depleted by antidepressants. There are also special sections written expressly for your doctor.

In Depression: Advancing the Treatment Paradigm, written for professionals, Dr. Hedaya details the nature of depression as a complex, multifactorial condition that is co-morbid with many chronic diseases, demanding a new approach that identifies and addresses the common underlying metabolic dysregulations. He bridges the gap between current and best practice by presenting a comprehensive, systems-oriented approach to solving the problem of depression.

Dr. Hedaya never stops learning. He wants his patients to benefit from the latest research and approaches. He presents his research at professional conferences. In addition to his private practice, he teaches fellow physicians, medical students, and other healthcare clinicians.

Because he is known in his profession as a thinking man’s doctor who’s learned in the latest medical technologies and methodologies, Dr. Hedaya has treated many fellow physicians in his practice.

Medical Approach

Dr. Robert Hedaya evaluates each patient focusing on the detailed evaluation and bi-directional interactions between and among their:

hormonal system
immune system
gastrointestinal system
nutrition
environment
inflammation
infection
genetics
detoxification
cell signaling
life circumstance
age
gender

Current interest:

The continued development and clinical testing of a technology that is strikingly efficacious in partially or completely reversing primary progressive aphasia, improving Parkinson’s symptoms, reversing acquired prosopagnosia, and effectively reversing treatment-resistant depression, and other select severe psychiatric conditions. We are in the process of obtaining baseline objective data to document the changes that stem from the treatment, with the aim, should the data support it, of taking the next steps to obtain an IRB.

Current Professional Status

Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Georgetown University (1983-present)
Faculty, Institute for Functional Medicine
Distinguished Life Fellow, American Psychiatric Association
Founder and Medical Director, The Whole Psychiatry & Brain Recovery Center
Certified Practitioner, Institute for Functional Medicine (IFMCP)

Education and Training

A. Psychology, Cum Laude, SUNY Buffalo (1974)
D., SUNY Buffalo School of Medicine (1979)

Post-Graduate

Internship: Georgetown University Hospital, Psychiatry (1979-1980)
Residency: Georgetown University Hospital, Psychiatry (1980-1983)
Special Fellowship: National Institute of Mental Health (1982-1983)

Certification and Licensure

Diplomate, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (1984-present)
American Board of Adolescent Psychiatry (1993-2006)
American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology (1998-2008)
Certified Practitioner, Institute for Functional Medicine (2013)
Medical Licenses: Maryland, New Jersey, and Florida

Academic Appointments

Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Georgetown University Medical Center (1983-present)
Faculty, Institute for Functional Medicine (2009-present)
Consultant, National Institute of Mental Health

Current and Previous Society Affiliations

American Psychiatric Association
American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacologists
The Endocrine Society
Washington Psychiatric Society
American Group Psychotherapy Association
American Medical Association
American Pain Society
Maryland Chirurgical Society
Metropolitan Washington Society for Adolescent Psychiatry
The Mid-Atlantic Environmental Medicine Network
Suburban Maryland Psychiatric Society

Committees and Boards

Membership Committee, Metropolitan Washington Society for Adolescent psychiatry 1983-1984
Renal Transplantation Committee, Holy Cross Hospital, Silver Spring Maryland: 1986
Electroconvulsive Therapy Committee, Holy Cross Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, 1986, 1987
Honorary Chairman, National Republican Congressional Committee
Physician’s Advisory Board-11/02-10/03
Liaison with Federal Health Agencies Committee, extended committee member;
American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacologists, 1994
Solvay Pharmaceuticals Advisory Board Member-1998
Pastoral Counseling Institute, Washington D.C. Board Member, 1996- 2003
American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology- Public Information and Relationship
With Non-Professional Publications Committee-1996-1998
Board Member, Suburban Maryland Psychiatric Society, 2007
Institute for Functional Medicine, Expert Committee for the 16^th International Symposium on Mood Disorders, May 2009 – Team Leader, Institute for Functional Medicine – Clinical Practice Guidelines Development: Autoimmune Disorders: Section on Stress: 2016
Advisory Board: MethylGenetic Nutrition Analysis Sept 2016-2018
Washington Psychiatric Society Continuing Education Committee-2019-2020

Honors and Awards:

Phi Beta Kappa: S.U.N.Y. at Buffalo, 1974
A., Cum Laude: S.U.N.Y. at Buffalo, 1974
Pediatrics Honors Award: S.U.N.Y. at Buffalo School of Medicine, 1976
Physicians Recognition Award: American Medical Association, 1983-1996
Outstanding Teacher Award: Georgetown University Department of Psychiatry, 1993,1997, 1999
Clinician of the Month: Functional Medicine Update: February 1997
Community Service Award: Washington Psychiatric Society, 1997
Clinician of the Month: Audio Interview for Functional Medicine Update, March 1997
Historical Society’s Who’s Who Recipient: International Who’s Who of Professionals, 2002
Master Clinician, Institute for Functional Medicine, May 2009

Major Publications

Books

Understanding Biological Psychiatry (Norton Publishing Company, 1996)
The Antidepressant Survival Program (Crown Publishers, 2000)
The Antidepressant Survival Guide (2001)
Depression: Advancing the Treatment Paradigm (IFM, 2008)

Book Chapters

Stress, Spirituality, Poverty and Community (Textbook of Functional Medicine, 2006)
Nutrition and Mental Health (Integrative Nutrition Therapy, 2015)

Peer-Reviewed Articles

Pharmacokinetic Factors in Clinical Use of L-Tryptophan (J. Clinical Psychopharmacology, 1984)
The Womanizer (J. Human Sexuality, 1985)
Carcinoid Carcinomatous Meningitis (Annals of Internal Medicine, 1985)
Seasonal Depression in Patients with Dissociative Disorders (J. Nervous and Mental Disease, 1996)
Depression: Advancing the Treatment Paradigm (IFM Monograph, 2008)
Addiction, Pain and Inflammation (SereneScene Magazine, 2016)
A Combination of 5 Herbs Plus Thiamine Reduces Pain (Altern. Ther. Health Med., 2017)
The Semmelweis Reflex, Medical Bilingualism and Dementia (J. Alzheimer’s Disease, 2018)
How Precision Psychiatry Helped My Patient (Currents Psychiatry, 2018)
Autoimmunity: Guide for Functional Medicine Practitioners (IFM, 2019) in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic
Reversal of Acquired Prosopagnosia using qEEG-Guided Laser Therapy (2022)
Advancing Neuropsychiatric Practice with qEEG (Alternative Therapies, 2023)
Utility of Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone in Clinical Practice: A Retrospective – Analysis of Thirty Cases: Hedaya, R.J; (Manuscript in preparation).

Georgetown Teaching Activities

Affective Disorders Program-25 years
Cognitive Therapy Seminar-10 years
Psycho-neuro-immuno-endocrinology (PNIE)-10 years
Clinical supervision of residents-15 years

Institute for Functional Medicine

Faculty member and Master Clinician
Course development in mood disorders
Advanced practice workshops
Presentation at multiple annual conferences
Certification program instruction

Professional Presentations

Approximately 200 professional presentations nationally
Several national and local media appearances (CNN, 20/20, MSNBC, Today Show, Fox TV)

Print/Digital

Psychology Today (Regular Contributor)
The New York Times
Washington Post
Vogue

Research Interests

Treatment-resistant neuropsychiatric disorders
Brain recovery and rehabilitation, including reversal of mild cognitive impairment, early dementia, and aphasia, stabilization and improvement of Parkinson’s symptoms and some movement disorders, and reversal of acquired prosopagnosia
Functional Medicine as it applies to psychiatry and select neuropsychiatric disorders
HYLANE technology for neuropsychiatric disorders
qEEG-guided treatment protocols
Psycho-neuro-immuno-endocrinology
Treatment-resistant psychiatric conditions
Impact of Ketamine on qEEG parameters (data collected, and manuscript in preparation)

Professional Society Memberships

American Psychiatric Association
The Endocrine Society
Washington Psychiatric Society
Institute for Functional Medicine
American Medical Association
American Pain Society
Maryland Chirurgical Society
Metropolitan Washington Society for Adolescent Psychiatry

Speaking Engagements

Over 250 national and international presentations (1976-2023), including keynote addresses, grand rounds, workshops, and media appearances at major medical institutions, conferences, and broadcast networks.