Joseph Pierre, MD

Dr. Pierre 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. His academic work explores the "grey area" between psychopathology and normality with a focus on delusion-like beliefs including conspiracy theories.

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 False: How Mistrust, Disinformation, and Motivated Reasoning Make Us Believe Things That Aren't True as well as the Psych Unseen blog at Psychology Today. He serves as an expert witness consultant in forensic/legal cases involving schizophrenia, the intersection of psychosis and ideological belief, and delusion-like beliefs.