Bio


Dr. Hu is Medical Director of the Acute Psychiatric Inpatient Unit at Stanford Hospital, specializing in the care of those with serious mental illnesses, including schizophrenia, bipolar and depression. She completed medical school and residency in psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco, and fellowships in Pharmacology and Schizophrenia Research through the National Institutes of Health. She is also active in the minority issues and cultural psychiatry, and has received regional and national recognition for her clinical care, research and teaching.

Clinical Focus


  • Psychiatry
  • schizophrenia
  • Psychotic disorders
  • Psychopharmacology
  • cultural psychiatry
  • Minority issues
  • Asian-American issues

Academic Appointments


  • Clinical Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

Administrative Appointments


  • Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Stanford University School of Medicine (2020 - Present)

Honors & Awards


  • Kun-Po Soo Award (national award for leadership in Asian American Mental Health), American Psychiatric Association (2021)

Professional Education


  • Board Certification: American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, Psychiatry (2007)
  • Residency: UCSF Mount Zion Medical Center Dept of Psychiatry (1994) CA
  • Medical Education: University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine (1990) CA
  • Fellowship: National Institutes of Health (1998) MD

2023-24 Courses


Stanford Advisees


All Publications


  • PARENT TRAINING: THEATRICAL VIGNETTES AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION IN IMMIGRANT FAMILIES Sust, S., Hu, R., Lee, J. ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC. 2019: S374
  • G-CSF Dosing to Prevent Recurrent Clozapine-Induced Agranulocytosis AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PSYCHIATRY Freeman, G. M., Martin, B. A., Hu, R. J. 2016; 173 (6): 643-643

    View details for DOI 10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.15101303

    View details for PubMedID 27245191

  • Discharge against medical advice from inpatient psychiatric treatment: A literature review PSYCHIATRIC SERVICES Brook, M., Hilty, D. M., Liu, W., Hu, R., Frye, M. A. 2006; 57 (8): 1192–98

    Abstract

    A comprehensive review of the literature examined discharge from inpatient psychiatric settings against medical advice (excluding elopements) over the past 50 years. Specifically, definitions, prevalence, predictors, temporal patterns, consequences, and interventions pertaining to such discharge were explored.The authors searched the PubMed and PsycINFO databases and selected articles for review if studies had been conducted in an inpatient setting or included discharge against medical advice as one of the aims or results and if findings were based on formal statistical analyses.Sixty-one articles met the selection criteria. Prevalence of discharge against medical advice ranged from 3 to 51 percent and increased over time. Discharge against medical advice was most commonly predicted by patient factors, such as young age; single marital status; male gender; comorbid diagnosis of personality or substance use disorders; pessimistic attitudes toward treatment; antisocial, aggressive, or disruptive behavior; and history of numerous hospitalizations ending in discharges against medical advice. It was also predicted by provider variables, such as failure to orient patients to hospitalization and failure to establish a supportive provider-patient relationship, and by temporal variables, such as evening and night shifts. Outcomes of patients discharged against medical advice were characterized by poor outcomes in several domains of functioning and more frequent rehospitalizations.Prediction of patients at risk of discharge against medical advice is possible with several defined variables. Awareness of the factors involved in discharge against medical advice should facilitate clinical decision making and the development of successful interventions for high-risk patients.

    View details for DOI 10.1176/appi.ps.57.8.1192

    View details for Web of Science ID 000239309200018

    View details for PubMedID 16870972

  • Treatment with atypical antipsychotics: new indications and new populations 153rd Annual Meeting of the American-Psychiatric-Association Glick, I. D., Murray, S. R., Vasudevan, P., Marder, S. R., Hu, R. J. PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD. 2001: 187–91

    Abstract

    Atypical antipsychotics have revolutionized the treatment of schizophrenia, becoming the treatment of choice for patients not only during their first episode, but also throughout their life course. Of note, as of 1999 more than 70% of prescriptions for these drugs are being prescribed for conditions other than schizophrenia, such as bipolar disorder and geriatric agitation. While there have been very few controlled trials that have established the efficacy of the atypical antipsychotics for these "off-label" uses, there have been a large number of open trials and case reports. The few controlled trials suggest that the atypical antipsychotics may be useful for affective disorders (both mania and depression), geriatric conditions such as senile dementia and aggression, as well as a variety of other disorders. Atypical agents may be particularly helpful for elderly, child, or adolescent patients who are especially susceptible to the side effects of medications and whose risk of tardive dyskinesia is high but further controlled studies are necessary.

    View details for Web of Science ID 000169978600007

    View details for PubMedID 11461715

  • Psychopharmacologic treatment strategies for depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia ANNALS OF INTERNAL MEDICINE Glick, I. D., Suppes, T., Debattista, C., Hu, R. J., Marder, S. 2001; 134 (1): 47-60

    Abstract

    Patients with serious psychiatric disorders are frequently treated by primary care physicians, who may have difficulty keeping up with recent advances in psychiatry. This paper presents an updated synopsis for three major psychiatric illnesses: major depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia. Current definitions, updated diagnostic criteria, short- and long-term treatment strategies with algorithms, and special challenges for the clinician are discussed for each of these illnesses. On the basis of each illness's distinct characteristics, five treatment principles are emphasized: 1) Treatment strategies should be long-term and should emphasize adherence, 2) treatment choice should be empirical, 3) combinations of medications may be helpful, 4) a combination of psychosocial and pharmacologic treatments may be more useful than either alone, and 5) the family or "significant others" as well as a consumer organization need to be involved. Some of the new directions in dinical research to refine these strategies and meet these challenges are also described.

    View details for PubMedID 11187420

  • Predicting response to clozapine - Status of current research CNS DRUGS Hu, R. J., Malhotra, A. K., Pickar, D. 1999; 11 (4): 317–26