Karl Rickels

Dr. Karl Rickels is the world's leading expert in the pharmacological treatment of anxiety disorders. He is the founder of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Section at the University of Pennsylvania. He was closely involved in the research and development of many anti-anxiety medications, including meprobamate, the benzodiazepines, and buspirone. This was followed by his discovery that antidepressant medications also had anti-anxiety properties, a finding that led to the current widespread use of...See more

Dr. Karl Rickels is the world's leading expert in the pharmacological treatment of anxiety disorders. He is the founder of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Section at the University of Pennsylvania. He was closely involved in the research and development of many anti-anxiety medications, including meprobamate, the benzodiazepines, and buspirone. This was followed by his discovery that antidepressant medications also had anti-anxiety properties, a finding that led to the current widespread use of antidepressants as anxiolytics. He also pioneered the scientific study of the benzodiazepines and their risks. Through his prolific research over the past fifty years, he has made so many contributions to the field that he is recognized the world over as the Dean of Psychopharmacology of anxiety disorders. As a testament to his extraordinary intellect, in his eighties he remains an active researcher, clinician, and teacher at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Medicine. See less