Dr. Blanchard received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook (1991) . He was subsequently a predoctoral intern, postdoctoral NIMH fellow, and then faculty member at the Medical College of Pennsylvania, Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute. Following a faculty appointment at the University of New Mexico Dr. Blanchard moved to the University of Maryland where he has been since 1999. Dr. Blanchard's research has examined the reciprocal influence of emotion and interpersonal behavior to understand clinical outcomes in serious mental illness including schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. Currently, Dr. Blanchard is conducting an NIMH-funded study examining neural (fMRI), cognitive, and behavioral correlates of affiliative deficits in psychosis.  He recently received funding from the University of Maryland Brain and Behavior Initiative (in collaboration with Dr. Shackman and Dr. Choe) to examine neural and behavioral correlates of paranoia in psychosis.  This study will combine MRI results with smartphone and actigraphy based assessments to provide a richer integration of neural responding and in vivo behavior. Dr. Blanchard is committed to training future clinical scientists and he has received the Excellence in Teaching Mentorship Award from the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences.  In 2016 Dr. Blanchard was named the first holder of the Joel and Kim Feller Professorship.  He is past President of the Society for a Science of Clinical Psychology.  Dr. Blanchard has previously served as Chair of the Department of Psychology and Director of Clinical Training.  Dr. Blanchard Academic Director of the Master of Professional Studies program in Clinical Psychological Science.  Dr. Blanchard was recently appointed Associate Provost for Enterprise Resource Planning.

Because of the economic impact of covid, state funding to the university has been reduced.  As a consequence, it is unclear if Dr. Blanchard will be able to recruit a graduate student for 2021-2022.  Determination of funding will not be made until after the graduate application deadline.  Given the cost of applying, potential applicants should carefully consider this uncertainty before deciding to apply.