A native of Istanbul, Turkey, Dr. Öngür obtained his M.D./Ph.D. degree from Washington University in St. Louis with a Ph.D. in Neurobiology.  He then completed his psychiatric residency training at the MGH/McLean Adult Psychiatry program in 2004 and stayed on as faculty at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School. 

His research has used brain imaging approaches to probe brain abnormalities in psychotic disorders as well as clinical studies to understand the trajectories of illness in early phases of these disorders.  He is currently the PI of a P50 Center grant from the NIMH focused on early psychosis research.

Dr. Öngür is currently the Chief of the Psychotic Disorders Division at McLean Hospital, responsible for all clinical services serving patients with psychotic disorders including a first episode psychosis subspecialty program.  He is also the William P. and Henry B. Test Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the author of more than 200 articles on research into neurobiology, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. 

He has won awards from McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the Kempf Award from the APA for his teaching and mentoring. He is the Editor in Chief of JAMA Psychiatry, a premier journal in the field. He is incoming President of the American Psychopathological Association, serves as Councilor-at-Large for Society of Biological Psychiatry; he is also a fellow of the ACNP and the APA, and a member of the BBRF/NARSAD Scientific Council.