Steven G. Sugden
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Steven G. Sugden, MD, MPH, MSS

Languages spoken: English, Spanish

  • Steve Sugden, MD, MPH, MSS, Associate Professor (Clinical), earned his medical degree at University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, UT. He completed a Psychiatry Residency program at University of California, Davis in Sacramento, CA. More recently, he completed a MPH at University of California, Berkeley and a MSS at U.S. Army War College. Dr. Sugden is board certified in Psychiatry by the ABPN, Addiction Medicine by the ABPM, Disaster Medicine by the APPS, Lifestyle Medicine by the ABLM and is a Colonel in the US Army Reserves. His interests include addiction medicine, lifestyle medicine, military and veteran medicine, disaster psychiatry and education. Before joining the Psychiatry faculty, he worked for ten years in residential, inpatient, private practice settings, and Veteran Affairs in Texas, North Carolina, and California. Dr. Sugden is excited to be a part of the team of excellent faculty, residents, and staff at the University of Utah Huntsman Mental Health Institute where he serves as the Associate Training Director for the Addiction Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine Fellowships.

    Specialties

    Board Certification

    American Board of Addiction Medicine
    American Board of Disaster Medicine
    American Board of Lifestyle Medicine
    American Board of Preventive Medicine (Addiction Medicine)
    American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (Psychiatry)

  • Steve Sugden, MD, MPH, MSS, Associate Professor (Clinical), earned his medical degree at University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City, UT. He completed a Psychiatry Residency program at University of California, Davis in Sacramento, CA. More recently, he completed a MPH at University of California, Berkeley and a MSS at U.S. Army War College. Dr. Sugden is board certified in Psychiatry by the ABPN, Addiction Medicine by the ABPM, Disaster Medicine by the APPS, Lifestyle Medicine by the ABLM and is a Colonel in the US Army Reserves. His interests include addiction medicine, lifestyle medicine, military and veteran medicine, disaster psychiatry and education. Before joining the Psychiatry faculty, he worked for ten years in residential, inpatient, private practice settings, and Veteran Affairs in Texas, North Carolina, and California. Dr. Sugden is excited to be a part of the team of excellent faculty, residents, and staff at the University of Utah Huntsman Mental Health Institute where he serves as the Associate Training Director for the Addiction Psychiatry and Addiction Medicine Fellowships.

    Board Certification and Academic Information

    Academic Departments Psychiatry -Associate Professor (Clinical)
    Academic Divisions Adult Psychiatry
    Board Certification
    American Board of Addiction Medicine
    American Board of Disaster Medicine
    American Board of Lifestyle Medicine
    American Board of Preventive Medicine (Addiction Medicine)
    American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology (Psychiatry)

    Education history

    Other Training Strategic Studies - United States Army War College M.S.S.
    Graduate Training University of California, Berkeley M.P.H.
    Residency Psychiatry - University of California, Davis Medical Center Resident
    Professional Medical Medicine - University of Utah School of Medicine M.D.
    Undergraduate Major: Spanish; Minor: Chemistry - University of Utah B.A.

    Selected Publications

    Journal Article

    1. Merlo G, Sugden SG (). Developing Resiliency through Lifestyle Interventions. Global Mental Health & Psychiatry Review, 5(1), 11-12.
    2. Merlo G, Snellman L, Sugden SG (2025). Connectedness: The Updated and Expanded Pillar of Lifestyle Psychiatry. Am J Lifestyle Med.
    3. Merlo G, Porter-Stransky KA, Sugden SG, Roy K, Hirschberg A, Smalls-Mantey A, Agrawal A, Bahekar P, Buckholz A, Beck J, Rivera HC, Carroll NA, Carey T, Ridout KK, Fung WLA, Hopper K, ljeaku I, Lee W, Madaan V, Nagarajan R, Penumetcha V, Pereira-Sanchez V, Patel A, Ridout SJ, Ryzar E, Somers J, Taneja K, Verma D, Wong WT, Ramaswamy V, Baron D (2025). Executive Summary of the APA Lifestyle Psychiatry Workgroup Report. Am J Psychiatry.
    4. SG Sugden, G Merlo (2024). Using lifestyle interventions and the gut microbiota to improve PTSD symptoms  . Front Neurosci, 18.
    5. Merlo G, Sugden SG, Viswanathan R (2024). Lifestyle Psychiatry: Evidence-Based Lifestyle Interventions for Mental and Physical Health. Psychiatr Times.
    6. Merlo, G, Batchnel G, Sugden SG (2024). Gut Microbiota, Nutrition and Mental Health. Front Nutr.
    7. Nakaishi L, Sugden SG, Merlo G (2022). Primary Care at the Intersection of Lifestyle Interventions and Unhealthy Substance Use. Am J Lifestyle Med. (Read full article)
    8. Lavenex P, Sugden SG, Davis RR, Gregg JP, Lavenex PB (2011). Developmental regulation of gene expression and astrocytic processes may explain selective hippocampal vulnerability. Hippocampus, 21(2), 142-9. (Read full article)
    9. Kile SJ, Bourgeois JA, Sugden SG, Chang CH, Servis ME, Hilty DM (2005). Neurobehavioral Sequelae of Traumatic Brain Injury. Psychiatr Times, XXIV, 42-46.
    10. Hilty DM, Bourgeois JA, Sugden SG, Chang CH, Servis ME, Alsaadi TM (2005). An integrated neuropsychiatric approach to diagnosis and management of patients with epileptic seizures. Curr Treat Options Neurol, 7(5), 389-402. (Read full article)
    11. Sugden SG, Zirpel L, Dietrich CJ, Parks TN (2002). Development of the specialized AMPA receptors of auditory neurons. J Neurobiol, 52(3), 189-202. (Read full article)
    12. Ravindranathan A, Donevan SD, Sugden SG, Greig A, Rao MS, Parks TN (2000). Contrasting molecular composition and channel properties of AMPA receptors on chick auditory and brainstem motor neurons. J Physiol, 523 Pt 3, 667-84. (Read full article)

    Review

    1. Merlo G, Sugden SG (2025). The Power of Lifestyle Psychiatry: A New Approach to Mental Health. [Review]. Am J Lifestyle Med.
    2. Sugden SG, Merlo G (2024). What do Climate Change, Nutrition, and the Environment Have to do With Mental Health. [Review]. Am J Lifestyle Med.
    3. Sugden SG, Merlo G, Manger S (2024). Can Lifestyle Medicine Improve Global Health? [Review]. Academia Mental Health and Well Being, 1(1).
    4. Sugden SG, Merlo G, Manger S (2024). Strengthening Neuroplasticity in Substance Use Recovery Thrugh Lifestyle Intervention. [Review]. Am J Lifestyle Med, 18(5), 648-656.
    5. Abascal L, Vela A, Sugden S, Kohlenberg S, Hirschberg A, Young A, Lane K, Merlo G (2022). Incorporating Mental Health Into Lifestyle Medicine. [Review]. Am J Lifestyle Med, https://doi.org/10.1177/15598276221084250. (Read full article)
    6. Sugden SG, Corbett BA (2006). Psychiatric comorbidities of autism spectrum disorders. [Review]. Continuum (Minneap Minn), 12(5), 47-59.
    7. Sugden SG, Kile SJ, Hendren RL (2006). Neurodevelopmental pathways to aggression: a model to understand and target treatment in youth. [Review]. J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci, 18(3), 302-17. (Read full article)

    Book Chapter

    1. Price RJ, Sugden SG (2025). Chapter 18: Military Medical Professionalism. In Gia Merlo, M.D, Thomas D. Harter, Ph.D. (Eds.), Medical Professionalism: Theory, Education, and Practice. Oxford University Press.
    2. Merlo G, Sugden SG, Abascal L (2024). Chapter 82: Overview of Lifestyle Psychiatry. In James M. Rippe, MD (Eds.), Lifestyle Medicine (4th Edition). Routledge Taylor and Francis.
    3. Sugden SG, Merlo G, Bachtel G (2023). Chapter 28, Bipolar Disorder. In Gia Merlo, M.D, Chris Fagundes, Ph.D. (Eds.), Lifestyle Psychiatry: Through the Lens of Behavioral Medicine (1st Edition). Taylor and Francis/Routledge/CRC.
    4. Merlo G, Sugden SG (2023). Chapter 5: Trauma Considerations. In Gia Merlo, M.D, Chris Fagundes, Ph.D. (Eds.), Lifestyle Psychiatry: Through the Lens of Behavioral Medicine (1st Edition). Taylor and Francis/Routledge/CRC.

    Conference Proceedings

    1. LeRoy B, Williams Sr KA, Abdul-Rahman S, Anderson K, Dalal M, Frates E, Gulati M, Iyengar NM, Joshi S, Kalantar-Zadeh K, Laster J, Melina V, Merlo G, Pasricha S, Patel J, Sugden SG, Tierney A, Zazulak B (2024). Proceeding Summaries of the 15th Conference of the Plant-based Prevention Of Disease Nonprofit: Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine. International Journal of Disease Reversal and Prevention, 6(1).
    2. Sugden SG, Kitchens C, Howell E (2022). Expanding Health Professionals’ Addiction Education to Rural, Tribal and Underserved Communities. 2022 WGEA Regional Meeting.
    3. Sugden SG, Lassche M, Farrell TW, Hobson-Rohrer WL (2022). A Novel Disaster Medicine IPE Approach. 2022 Emswiller Interprofessional Symposium.
    4. Dryden-Edward R, Hamarman S, Sugden SG, Gennaro KG, Combrink-Graham L (2006). It takes a village: Assessing behavioral and psychiatric disorders in mentally retarded individuals. Component Workshop 25, American Psychiatric Association 2006 Annual Meeting.
    5. Sugden SG, Baron CA, Gregg JP, Lavenex P (2005). Gene expression profile of the monkey hippocampal formation,. Society for Neuroscience 2005 Annual Meeting.
    6. Fuchs L, Farchione TR, Giggie MA, Thomas P, Sugden SG (05/25/2005). A Bitter Pill: Tailoring Medical Training to Fit Our Contemporary Psychiatric Practice. American Psychiatric Association 2005 Annual Meeting.
    7. Sugden SG, Baron CA, Gregg JP, Lavenex P (2005). Expression Patterns of Schizophrenia Candidate Genes within the Hippocampal Formation. American Psychiatric Association Colloquium for Junior Investigators.

    Case Report

    1. Johnson SP, Sugden SG, Bourgeois JA (2007). A Major Event of Self-Mutilation in a Patient with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry, 21(1), 3.
    2. Sugden SG, Kile SJ, Farrimond DD, Hilty DM, Bourgeois JA (2006). Pharmacological intervention for cognitive deficits and aggression in frontal lobe injury. NeuroRehabilitation, 21(1), 3-7. (Read full article)
    3. Sugden SG, Bourgeois JA, Kile SJ, Hilty DM (2004). Neuroleptic malignant syndrome with dermatologic complications. J Clin Psychopharmacol, 24(6), 676-8. (Read full article)
    4. Sugden SG, Bourgeois JA (2004). Modafinil monotherapy in poststroke depression. Psychosomatics, 45(1), 80-1. (Read full article)

    Letter

    1. Sugden SG, Bourgeois JA (2005). Drs. Sugden and Bourgeois Reply [Letter to the editor]. Psychosomatics, 46(1), 93-94.

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