HomeDate: 2026-04-10
Academician Ming T. Tsuang passed away in the United States on March 18, 2026, at the age of 95.
Academician Tsuang was an internationally renowned scholar in human genetics and the study of psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, substance abuse, and post-traumatic stress disorder. He devoted his career to identifying biomarkers for the clinical diagnosis, pharmacological treatment, and behavioral intervention of these disorders, while also emphasizing prevention prior to disease onset. In particular, through studies of biological relatives of individuals with schizophrenia, he identified traits predictive of psychiatric illness by examining both genetic and environmental factors. This work led to the establishment of large-scale collaborative research initiatives spanning the field of psychiatric genetics.
Dr. Tsuang received his Ph.D. from the Institute of Psychiatry, University of London, in 1965, and his Doctor of Science degree from the University of London in 1981. He taught at the University of Iowa and Brown University before joining Harvard University in 1985, where he served as Stanley Cobb Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. In 2003, he joined the University of California, San Diego, where he served as Lewis Judd Endowed Chair in Behavioral Genomics, University Professor, Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, and Director of the Center for Behavioral Genomics. Deeply committed to academic mentorship, Dr. Tsuang devoted substantial effort to nurturing young scholars. He frequently returned to Taiwan to lecture and teach, and served as an advisor to the National Health Research Institutes and Academia Sinica’s Neuroscience Research Program. Through close collaboration with Taiwan’s medical community, he played an important role in advancing psychiatric research and international academic exchange in Taiwan.
Dr. Tsuang was elected a Member of the U.S. National Academy of Medicine and a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. His honors included the Rema Lapouse Award in Mental Health Epidemiology from the American Public Health Association, the Stanley Dean Award for Research in Schizophrenia from the American College of Psychiatrists, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Society of Psychiatric Genetics, and the Lieber Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Schizophrenia Research from the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation. He was elected an Academician of Academia Sinica in 1996.
