Joe Pierre, MD is a Health Sciences Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at UCSF and the Unit Chief of the Langley Porter Psychiatric Hospital Adult Inpatient Unit. He has extensive clinical experience working with individuals with psychotic disorders, substance abuse, and those with “dual diagnosis” as well as research experience participating as a primary investigator and collaborator for clinical trials in schizophrenia and early intervention for young persons at high risk for psychosis.
Dr. Pierre has authored over 100 papers, abstracts, and book chapters related to schizophrenia, antipsychotic medications, substance-induced psychosis, delusions and delusion-like beliefs, auditory hallucinations and voice-hearing, and a variety of other topics including the neuroscience of free will and culturally sanctioned suicide. He is also the author of the Psych Unseen blog at Psychology Today and serves as an expert witness consultant in forensic/legal cases involving schizophrenia, the intersection of psychosis and religion, and delusion-like beliefs and conspiracy theories.
Joe Pierre considers a systematic review and meta-analysis on the prevalence of neuroimaging abnormalities in first-episode psychosis and the clinical relevance for service users presenting with first-episode psychosis.
Joe Pierre reports on the first published study exploring the relationship between antipsychotic dose and risk of relapse in first episode schizophrenia, which suggests that standard antipsychotic dosing is best for relapse prevention.
Joe Pierre considers a recent network meta-analysis on continuing, reducing, switching, or stopping antipsychotics in individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders who are clinically stable.
Joseph Pierre appraises a recent meta-analysis on long-acting injectable antipsychotics compared to oral antipsychotic medication for the maintenance treatment of schizophrenia.
Joe Pierre summarises two recently published and widely reported RCTs, which suggest that antipsychotic medication might not offer an advantage over psychotherapy in broadly-defined first episode psychosis.
