Octavio Choi, MD, PhD
Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Web page: http://web.stanford.edu/people/ochoi
Bio
Dr. Choi is an interventional and forensic neuropsychiatrist on the Stanford faculty. He received his MD/PhD at UC-San Diego as part of NIH's Medical Scientist Training Program. He received his PhD degree in Neuroscience for work done at the Salk Institute in neural development.
Dr Choi is the founding director of Stanford's Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship Program, the first neurolaw-focused forensic fellowship in the world. As a forensic psychiatrist, Dr. Choi specializes in neurolaw, an emerging interdisciplinary field that studies the use and misuse of neuroscience-based evidence in the courtroom. His research interests include the use of functional brain imaging to discern mental states (e.g. lie detection, pain assessment), and the neural basis for moral decision making (e.g. defects in moral reasoning brain centers giving rise to psychopathy). A central question he considers is: how do advances in our knowledge of the neural basis of behavior change perceptions of how offenders should be punished? He has testified as a court-appointed expert, as well as for the prosecution and defense, in many high-profile and complex cases involving psychiatric, neurologic, medical, and medication-related legal claims. Dr. Choi is an active educator, providing seminars to students, attorneys, judges, neuroscientists and clinicians on the importance and relevance of neuroscience and the law.
Dr. Choi’s clinical interests include neuromodulatory approaches to treat psychiatric illness, such as the use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to treat major depression. He is part of the interventional psychiatry group of Stanford Medicine, conducting clinical work and research to advance the power, precision, and scope of neuromodulation.
Dr. Choi is an experienced public speaker, and has given a number of talks to lay and professional audiences on neurolaw, the neuroscience of psychopathy, and the neuroscience of moral decision-making. He is a featured TEDx speaker on the topic "Can Neuroscience Eradicate Psychopathy?"
Clinical Focus
- Psychiatry
- Neuropsychiatry
- Forensic Psychiatry
- Interventional Psychiatry
Academic Appointments
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Clinical Associate Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Administrative Appointments
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Founding Director, Stanford Neuro Forensics Accelerator (2023 - Present)
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Founding Director, Stanford Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship (2019 - 2023)
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Affiliate Faculty, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute (2019 - Present)
Honors & Awards
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Medical Scientist Training Program, NIH (federally-funded MD/PhD award) (1994 - 2004)
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Summer Research Scholar, Mind and Life Institute (2006)
Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations
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Fellow, American Psychiatric Association (2019 - Present)
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Associate Editor, Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (2018 - Present)
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Former Chair, Forensic Neuropsychiatry Committee, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (2015 - 2018)
Professional Education
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Medical Education: University of California San Diego School of Medicine (2004) CA
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Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship, University of Pennsylvania, Forensic Psychiatry, Neurolaw (2012)
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Board Certification: American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Forensic Psychiatry (2013)
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Psychiatry residency, UCLA-Neuropsychiatric Institute, Psychiatry (2008)
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Fellowship: University of Pennsylvania Health System (2012) PA
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PhD, University of California, San Diego, Neuroscience (2004)
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Board Certification: American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Psychiatry (2010)
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MD, University of California, San Diego (2004)
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Residency: UCLA Medical Center (2008)
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BS, Stanford University, Symbolic Systems (Computational Neuroscience) (1992)
Research Interests
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Adolescence
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Brain and Learning Sciences
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Child Development
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Curriculum and Instruction
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Early Childhood
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Legal Issues
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Lifelong Learning
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Philosophy
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Poverty and Inequality
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Science Education
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Technology and Education
Current Research and Scholarly Interests
Dr. Choi is the founding director of the Stanford Neuro Forensics Accelerator, whose core mission is to accelerate the transformation of basic neuroscience research into actionable insights for reliable legal decision making.
We aim to accomplish this mission by creating robust, reliable online tools and making them freely available to the community.
2023-24 Courses
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Independent Studies (1)
- Teaching in Psychiatry
PSYC 290 (Spr)
- Teaching in Psychiatry
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Prior Year Courses
2022-23 Courses
- The Brain and the Law
PSYC 125 (Spr)
2021-22 Courses
- The Brain and the Law
PSYC 125 (Spr)
- The Brain and the Law
All Publications
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Neuroinnovation in Medicine: HIstory and Future
Choi, Octavio. "Neuroinnovation in Medicine: History and Future." Ethics and Clinical Neuroinnovation: Fundamentals, Stakeholders, Case Studies, and Emerging Issues.
Springer International. 2023: 13-55
View details for DOI 10.1007/978-3-031-14339-7_2
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The Fellowship Application Process Must Be Reformed.
The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
2021; 49 (3): 300-310
View details for DOI 10.29158/JAAPL.210088-21
View details for PubMedID 34417252
- Belonging, Therapeutic Landscapes, and Networks: Implications for Mental Health Practice Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 2019; 47 (3): 388-390
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What Neuroscience Can and Cannot Answer.
The journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
2017; 45 (3): 278-285
View details for PubMedID 28939723
- Neuroimaging and lie detection: ready for court? Psychiatric Expert Testimony Oxford University Press. 2015; 1: 84–96
- Adjudicating Dangerous and Incompetent Defendants: Civil or Criminal? Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law 2012; 40 (2): 279-281