During open enrollment, choose San Diego's best health care. Get started.

About Zafiris "Jeff" Daskalakis, MD, PhD, FRCP

Zafiris "Jeff" Daskalakis, MD, PhD, is a psychiatrist and internationally recognized expert in treating severe psychiatric disorders with magnetic brain stimulation, also known as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

He uses TMS to help patients with treatment-resistant depression and is the director of UC San Diego Health's Interventional Psychiatry Clinic, the region's largest clinic dedicated to treating severe depression with brain stimulation approaches.

As chair of the Department of Psychiatry at UC San Diego School of Medicine, Dr. Daskalakis is leading research on the use of TMS in people with treatment-resistant schizophrenia, suicidal thoughts and obsessive compulsive disorders. Treatment-resistant diseases are those that may not be resolved adequately through traditional medications and talk therapy alone.

Dr. Daskalakis says the most rewarding aspect of his clinical practice is being able to help people who have not found relief through conventional approaches. This is why his research focuses on novel approaches such as brain stimulation for treating mental health conditions.

Prior to joining UC San Diego Health in 2020, he was a professor of psychiatry at University of Toronto, co-director of the Temerty Centre for Therapeutic Brain Intervention and chief of the General Adult Psychiatry and Health Systems Division, both at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto.

CAMH is Canada's largest mental health teaching hospital. The Temerty Centre is one of the world's hubs for brain stimulation treatment, research and training.

Dr. Daskalakis has published more than 390 peer-reviewed journal articles in the Lancet, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Archives of General Psychiatry and JAMA Psychiatry, among others. He is an editorial board member of Biological Psychiatry and associate editor for Clinical Neuropsychiatry.

Dr. Daskalakis has received numerous awards, including the Laidlaw Prize from the Institute of Medical Research, the Young Investigator Award from the Canadian College of Neuropsychopharmacology and the Samarthji Lal Award in Mental Health Research from the Graham Boeckh Foundation.

Dr. Daskalakis, who was born and raised in Toronto, completed residency training in psychiatry at the University of Toronto. He was a research fellow in the schizophrenia program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and earned his doctorate degree at the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Toronto. He earned his medical degree at Queen's University.

Outside of work, he enjoys cycling, reading, soccer and hockey.

UC San Diego Health Links

For more information, see Behavioral and Mental Health Care and Treatment-Resistant Depression.

Medical DegreeQueen’s University School of Medicine, Kingston, Ontario, CanadaResidencyUniversity of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, Ontario, CanadaFellowshipCentre for Addiction and Mental Health, Ontario, CanadaDoctoral DegreeUniversity of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
GenderMale
LanguagesGreek
Date Joined Staff2021-03-03
Board Certifications
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
Conditions and Treatments
  • Depression
  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Is My Insurance Accepted?

We accept most major insurance plans at UC San Diego Health. Find out if your insurance is accepted.

Videos

Novel Treatment for Severe Depression: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

Novel Treatment for Severe Depression: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)

News

Video: TMS therapy used to treat severe depression UC San Diego Health
Video: Meet Teresa Lindhardt

After six weeks of daily treatments with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) at UC San Diego Health, Lindhardt said she was free of the symptoms of depression that disrupted, and twice nearly ended, her life.

Open Payments Program Notification

For informational purposes only, a link to the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Open Payments web page is provided here. The federal Physician Payments Sunshine Act requires that detailed information about payment and other payments of value worth over ten dollars ($10) from manufacturers of drugs, medical devices, and biologics to physicians and teaching hospitals be made available to the public.

View Open Payments Data for Dr. Daskalakis