James M. Greenblatt, MD

b. 1957
Hall of Fame 2017

Jim started medical school at George Washington University in 1980. Frustrated with the lack of training in nutrition, he organized the first elective on alternative medicine in any medical school in the US. The course was titled “The Evolution of the Biomedical Model”; he invited speakers to teach medical students about nutrition, acupuncture, mindfulness, yoga, even orthomolecular psychiatry to help students understand the importance integrative medicine.

After receiving his medical degree, Jim completed a year of Pediatric training and two years of adult psychiatry. He then went on to a two-year fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at John Hopkins University School of Medicine. In Boston, he founded his first Integrative Medicine clinic, Comprehensive Psychiatric Resources, which provided patient-centered, orthomolecular and integrative care for children and adults, which attracted patients from all around the world seeking help for mental illness.

In 2006, at the American Psychiatric Association Annual Conference in Toronto, Jim escaped the maze of pharmaceutical displays to find a small exhibit in the back of the hall and shook hands with Steven Carter. This meeting started a long-term relationship with ISOM and provided Jim with a community to support his passion not only to treat patients but to educate clinicians. He has since taught dozens of CME courses with the Canadian Society for Orthomolecular Medicine.

Jim is the author of Answers to Anorexia, The Breakthrough Depression Solution and Answers to Binge Eating and Nutritional Lithium: The Cinderella Story. Jim’s book, Finally Focused, to be published in May 2017, describes the integrative treatment of ADHD. He is also the editor of Integrative Therapies for Depression: Redefining Models for Assessment, Treatment and Prevention, a professional textbook.

Jim began seeing patients suffering from mental illness 30 years ago. Fifteen years ago, Jim became the Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Medical Services at Walden Behavioral Care in Waltham, Massachusetts, one of the first healthcare centers in the country to provide a full continuum of care for patients with eating disorders. Every year Jim teaches Psychiatric residents at Harvard University, Tufts University, Dartmouth College, the University of Connecticut, and the University of Massachusetts. Jim starts all lectures with the same question: How many of you know what Pellagra is? Rarely does anyone know the answer, so Jim then begins talking about the story of pellagra, orthomolecular medicine and Dr. Abram Hoffer.