Gabe J. Maletta, Ph.D., M.D.

Since 1963, Dr. Maletta, presently Clinical Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Family Medicine/Community Health at the University of Minnesota, has focused his scientific interest on the complex integration at the medical and behavioral interface, in both health and disease, in the developing and aging nervous system. He earned an MA and a PhD in Physiology from the University of California, Berkeley, with particular emphasis on aging brain/endocrine neurochemistry; and later an MD from Case-Western Reserve School of Medicine, with residency training and board certification in Psychiatry.

Dr. Maletta was instrumental in helping to develop the field of Geriatric Psychiatry. He was one of three physicians chosen nationally by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) to develop and write the first board examination in the field, in 1990, which elevated it from “added qualification” status to a formal sub-specialty. He continued as vice-chair of the Examination Committee in Geriatric Psychiatry of the ABPN from 1990 to 1996.

Dr. Maletta is an internationally respected clinician, teacher, educator, lecturer, author and administrator; he actively consults in long-term and in-patient health care facilities, as well as in academic, religious, legal and pharmaceutical company settings. He is editor or co-editor of 13 books and has more than 151 other scientific publications, in both basic and clinical geriatric and gerontological neuroscience, most recently co-editing and contributing to the 2nd edition of the textbook: “Principles and Practice of Geriatric Psychiatry”, published by Lippincott in June 2011.

Among Dr. Malettas’ current clinical interests in caring for older patients are: the medical/psychiatric evaluation and differential diagnosis of cognitive dysfunction, including dementia, delirium and depression, and managing associated behavioral and psychological symptoms; the unique aspects of psychopharmacologic treatment and management of older patients; and the education and care of caregivers, both family and professional.