Dr. Croarkin is Director of the Mayo Clinic Depression Center and holds the academic rank of Professor of Psychiatry, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. Dr. Croarkin completed medical school at the University of North Texas Health Science Center. He completed an internship and residency in psychiatry at Naval Medical Center San Diego where he served as chief resident. Dr. Croarkin served as a US Navy psychiatrist in an academic role at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and in an operational setting as a psychiatrist embedded with the 24 Marine Expeditionary Unit in North Babil during Operation Iraqi Freedom. He returned for clinical and research training in child and adolescent psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, again serving as chief resident. He earned a Master of Science degree with distinction in clinical science at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Thereafter, he was recruited to Mayo Clinic for a research focused position.

An expert in child and adolescent mood disorders, early life adversity, and psychopharmacology, Dr. Croarkin conducts research to help find innovative diagnostic and treatment approaches for children and adolescents. His research has been funded by the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression, National Institutes of Health, and Industry partnerships. His findings have been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals such The American Journal of Psychiatry, JAMA Psychiatry, and Neuropsychopharmacology. Dr. Croarkin has mentored many students and residents. He holds full faculty privileges in Clinical and Translational Science, Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. Dr. Croarkin has received many awards and honors. In 2017, he received a National Institute of Mental Health Biobehavioral Research Award for Innovative New Scientists (NIMH BRAINS). He is also a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.