Dr. Tonmoy Sharma’s Accolades: A Commitment to the Advancement of Neuroscience

Dr. Tonmoy Sharma, CEO of Sovereign Health, has earned a number of awards, honorariums, and grants in the United States, Europe, and Southeast Asia for his contributions to the promotion of mental health and substance abuse treatment. As a leading figure in the field of schizophrenia, Dr. Sharma continues to make his name known internationally through his publications, speeches, and presentations.

Dr. Sharma earned the National Institutes of Health’s Young Investigator Award in 1993 at the International Congress on Schizophrenia Research and in 1992 and 1994, Dr. Sharma received the Young Scientist Award from the Biennial European Workshop on Schizophrenia. He was also granted a Travelling Fellowship by the Royal College of Psychiatrists in the United Kingdom in 1994.

Dr. Tonmoy Sharma was the first non-US-based scientist to earn the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression Young Investigator Award in 1996. He also received the Association of European Psychiatrists’ Junior Psychiatrist Research Prize in the same year. Aside from his achievements in the academe, he was able to practice medically as the General Medical Council issued Dr. Tonmoy Sharma a Medical Practitioner Registration on 26th of January, 2004 (Reference No. 6064725) and an Annual Registration Certificate on 22nd of May, 2007 (Reference No. 3632509).

Dr. Tonmoy Sharma completed the majority of his study using funds from several companies. From 1988 to 2000, Dr. Tonmoy Sharma’s various researches were funded by grants from E. Merck Research Grant, Schizophrenia Association of Great Britain Grant, Rothschild Schizophrenia Research Fund, Wellington Foundation, Eli Lilly (for MRI Scans), King Edwards (London), Medical Research Council (With Professors R .Murray and S. Lewis), Bethlem and Maudsley Research Fund, Department of Health, Schizophrenia Eli Lilly & Co,

Zeneca Pharma, Institute of Psychiatry, Janssen Research Foundation, and Institute of Psychiatry, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals.

In 1996, Dr. Sharma received a grant from Janssen Research Foundation for his study on “Cognitive Efficacy of Risperidone and Typical Antipsychotics” and funding from National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD) for his research on “Cortical Network Dysfunction in Schizophrenia: A Functional MRI Study.”

In 1997, Dr. Sharma’s “First Episode Study of Psychosis” was funded by Janssen Research Foundation and Eli Lilly & Co, while his research on “Cognitive Function and Functional MRI of Clozapine and Typical Antipsychotics” received a grant from Novartis Research, and “Cognitive Efficacy of Olanzapine and Clozapine in Treatment Resistant Schizophrenia” was financially supported by Eli Lilly & Co.

In 1999, Stanley Foundation funded “Violence and Mental Illness: A Functional MRI Study”, and his study about “Conscious and Unconscious Processing in Schizophrenia” received a research grant from Wellcome Trust. In the year 2000, his research “Cognitive Enhancement in Schizophrenia” was also funded by Stanley Foundation.

Dr. Tonmoy Sharma also received donations for his research on “Longitudinal Investigation of Mild Cognitive Impairment” and “Cognitive Effects of Atypical Antipsychotics” from Novartis Pharmaceuticals and AstraZeneca Pharma, respectively.

Dr. Tonmoy Sharma was also an Examiner for the MSc in Medical Informatics (Neuroimaging) at Guy’s Hospital and City University, as well as a Viva Examiner for medical students at the completion of the Psychiatry Placement examination. His competence earned him the position of Academic Representative of King’s College School of Medicine and Dentistry on the Consultant Psychiatrist Appointments Panel at Maidstone (Invicta Trust) and Honorary Consultant in South London and Maudsley NHS Trust.

Dr. Sharma has worked on many editorial boards, including the Journal of Schizophrenia and Brain Research, and has been a peer reviewer for Biological Psychiatry and 14 international medical publications. He has served on several advisory committees governing antipsychotic drug research, has directed more than 20 national and international clinical studies, has authored more than 200 peer-reviewed journal publications, and has co-written five books and chapters on schizophrenia.

Two publications of Dr. Sharma achieved new milestones in ResearchGate. His publication, entitled “Volumetric Structural Brain Abnormalities in Men with Schizophrenia or Antisocial Personality Disorder” reached 600 reads in January 2017, and his article “Cognitive Function in Schizophrenia: Deficits, Functional Consequences, and Future Treatment” reached 200 citations in February 2017. Overall, Dr. Tonmoy Sharma achieved 5,000 reads in ResearchGate as of 2017. Dr. Sharma was also the 22nd most cited author/scientist in the field of schizophrenia from 1991 to 1999.

Dr. Tonmoy Sharma established Sovereign Health Group Addiction, Dual Diagnosis, and Mental Health in 2009. Sovereign Health has received the Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval, and its extensive nationwide network in many states is also licensed to deliver concurrent mental health and substance use treatment. In 2016, Dr. Sharma was elected to the Board of Directors of the National Alliance on Mental Illness in Orange County and recognized as one of the Orange County Business Journal’s Top 500 business influencers.

Sovereign Health Group has received CCAPP School Approval from the California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals, which is valid from January 3, 2017 through January 30, 2020. Furthermore, the American Psychological Association gave Sovereign Health Group APA approval, which is applicable from March 2017 to March 2018.

Under Dr. Sharma’s guidance, Sovereign Health has implemented numerous new technologies and developed an internal workflow system that utilizes in-house software capabilities. These systems assist the process of working with individuals suffering from substance misuse, physical or sexual abuse, and/or patients with suicidal tendencies. Sovereign is also utilizing telemedicine and smart phone apps to reach out to people who are unable to physically attend therapy sites, as well as to include patients’ relatives in the process.

According to the independent report from McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School affiliate, Sovereign Health is a network of behavioral health treatment institutions that outperformed 50 other treatment institutions nationwide in some key health care metrics and routinely ranks as the top provider of behavioral health services. Dr. Sharma ensures the use of cognitive improvement programs merged with neuroscience, developmental psychology, and software infrastructure applications to promote brain fitness and health.

Through the leadership of Dr. Tonmoy Sharma, Sovereign Health exhibited its ability to grow in numerous ways simultaneously. Sovereign was third on the Orange County Business Journal’s list of Fastest-Growing Private Companies in 2016, and rated on the top 11% on Inc. 5000’s list of America’s 5,000 Fastest-Growing Private Companies, with a 3-year revenue growth rate of 721 percent.

As the CEO of Sovereign Health, Dr. Sharma recognizes the importance of feedback-informed treatment, where patients deserve the best possible care and should be able to provide feedback on how their therapy is working for them. He also stated the need for policy and system reforms in the near future to address the need for integrated care in order to modify how mental health illnesses and substance-abuse problems are addressed.