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The Sultan Lab for Mental Health Informatics at Columbia University conducts NIH-funded research on ADHD, cannabis use disorders, and digital therapeutics, using computational psychiatry methods and large-scale data analysis to improve youth mental health treatment, directed by Dr. Ryan Sultan. |
Director: Dr. Ryan S. Sultan, MD
Institution: Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry
Affiliation: New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI)
Founded: 2021
Funding: $670K+ NIH/NIDA active grants
Team: 7 researchers (faculty, postdocs, research assistants)
The Sultan Lab for Mental Health Informatics bridges clinical psychiatry and computational science to address critical gaps in youth mental health treatment. Our research leverages electronic health records, large-scale epidemiologic datasets, and advanced computational methods to translate population-level risk signals into clinically safe, developmentally informed, and scalable interventions.
Mission: To improve mental health outcomes for adolescents and young adults through rigorous research combining psychiatry, informatics, and public health epidemiology.
Official Lab Page: Columbia Psychiatry - Sultan Lab
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Focus: Understanding who receives ADHD treatment, how medications are prescribed, and real-world outcomes in children, adolescents, and adults. Key Questions:
Methods:
Major Finding: Swedish study analysis showing ADHD medications linked with 30-50% lower rates of accidents and arrests—landmark evidence for protective effects beyond symptom control. Publications:
Funding: NIH/NIMH, Columbia Research Stabilization Fund |
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Focus: Examining patterns of cannabis use among U.S. adolescents, mental health consequences, and intervention strategies, particularly addressing "nondisordered" use below diagnostic thresholds. Key Questions:
Groundbreaking Discovery: "Casual" or "recreational" cannabis use—without meeting addiction criteria—affects 2.5 million US teens and carries significant mental health risks (2x higher depression, 2x higher suicidal ideation, 4x higher arrests) previously overlooked by researchers. Publications:
Funding: NIDA K12 Career Development Award (2021-2026, $670K) |
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Project Name: PAWS (Pawsitive Companion) Innovation: PAWS transforms evidence-based cannabis use disorder (CUD) treatment into engaging acts of caring for a digital pet—specifically designed to reach youth in underserved areas where specialized addiction care is inaccessible. Dr. Sultan's Responsibilities as MPI:
Why This Matters: This project represents a pivotal step in applying scalable technology to resolve critical access barriers in youth addiction treatment. Adolescents using cannabis "casually" have been invisible to screening and intervention—this research reveals an at-risk population 4x larger than those with diagnosed cannabis use disorder. Collaborators:
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Focus: Improving safety and understanding of psychiatric medications through research on prescribing patterns, adverse events, and regulatory changes. Key Contributions: Clozapine Monitoring Research: Dr. Sultan's work on clozapine-associated hematologic events contributed to FDA policy changes dismantling restrictive clozapine REMS (Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy) guidelines, potentially increasing access to this uniquely effective medication for treatment-resistant schizophrenia. Publications:
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Focus: Understanding psychiatric conditions through an evolutionary lens—examining why traits that cause impairment in modern environments may have been adaptive in ancestral contexts. Key Questions:
Public Engagement: Dr. Sultan discussed evolutionary ADHD on the Hacking Your ADHD podcast, explaining the hunter-gatherer hypothesis and mismatch theory. Lab Page: Evolutionary Psychiatry Research Area Related Content: Is ADHD Evolutionary? The Hunter-Gatherer Theory |
The Sultan Lab employs cutting-edge computational psychiatry methods:
| Metric | Count |
|---|---|
| Total Citations | 411+ |
| Peer-Reviewed Publications | 40+ |
| H-Index | 15+ |
| First-Author Papers | 15+ |
| JAMA/JAACAP/Pediatrics Pubs | 5 |
Most Cited Work: Antipsychotic Treatment Among Youths with ADHD (JAMA Network Open, 2019) - 411 citations, establishing foundational evidence for prescribing practices in pediatric populations.
View Complete Publication List →
View Media Coverage → | Listen to Podcast Appearances →
Total Active Funding: $670,000+
Period: 06/2025-06/2026
Purpose: Bridge funding for early-career research; supports ongoing analyses of ADHD treatment patterns in large datasets
Period: 07/2021-06/2026
Institutions: Columbia University & Mass General/Harvard
Focus: Patterns and outcomes of adolescent substance use and ADHD-related risk behaviors
Mentor: Frances Levin, MD
NIMH T32 Translational Research Fellowship (2016-2019)
Postdoctoral training in child psychiatry research at Columbia
AACAP Elaine Schlosser Lewis Award (2016-2017)
Pilot research on attention disorders and disruptive behavior
Current Team Size: 7 researchers
Ryan S. Sultan, MD
Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychiatry
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Director, Sultan Lab for Mental Health Informatics
Training:
Board Certifications:
Internal (Columbia):
External:
Lab positions (postdoc, research assistant) occasionally available - contact lab for opportunities
Lab Director: rs0000@columbia.edu
Institution: Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry
Address: 1051 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10032
The Sultan Lab welcomes collaborations with:
The lab occasionally has positions for:
Contact lab director for current availability
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