Tobias Marton, MD, PhD

Psychiatrist
Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Marton is a Board- Certified Psychiatrist who specializes in the treatment of treatment-resistant depression and using interventional modalities such as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), esketamine nasal spray and intravenous ketamine infusions.

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More about Tobias Marton, MD, PhD

Dr. Tobias Marton first became interested in medicine in his high school biology class, a time in his life he was also influenced by the hit TV show “ER.” This soon molded into an interest in neuroscience as an undergraduate in college. He was fascinated by the complexities of the brain, and how the brain functions and dysfunction give rise to human behavior. It became clear to him in medical school that he wanted to practice medicine in neurology or psychiatry as they both involved brain function and the potential to alleviate some human suffering. 

In his work with patients, he sees his role as very much an advisor and collaborator. He enjoys talking to people and trying to understand their stories and how they came to be who they are. He is able to sit with patients and listen to them as he works with them to find a solution. He appreciates their willingness to work hard, and he finds it incredibly rewarding to witness their quality of life improve. 

Dr. Tobias Marton has built his practice on working at the leading edge of innovation and treatment development to help patients suffering with severe depression. He has a passion for interventional psychiatry and in expanding access to innovative, life-saving treatments for severe treatment-resistant depression, such as TMS treatments, esketamine nasal spray and ketamine infusions.

With considerable experience using these treatments, he is gratified to see the profound improvement in depression symptoms, suicidal ideation, and general quality of life that patients can derive from these treatments, particularly when they have often struggled for years with their symptoms despite having engaged in ongoing pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy.

Personal Interests

Dr. Marton hails from Berkeley and always has considered the Bay Area to be home. Raising his two young kids is his first passion outside of work. His second passion is traveling, which has recently been confined to exploring all the nooks and crannies of California during the pandemic.

Education & Experience

Dr. Marton completed his Bachelor of Art from University of California, Berkeley, in Berkeley, CA. He was awarded Department Honors in the Berkely Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology and Department Citation for Best Honors Undergraduate Research Program.

He attended University of California, San Diego, to pursue his PhD in neuroscience as well as his medical degree. Following completion of these two degrees, he completed his residency from the University of California, San Francisco. He was awarded the UCSF Department of Psychiatry Grand Rounds Trainee Presentation Award and the UCSF Department of Psychiatry Research and Scholarship Award. He was also identified by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) based on the quality of his PhD work as someone they wanted to support as a physician and scientist and was awarded the National Institute of Mental Health Outstanding Resident Award. He also completed the APF/Genentech Schizophrenia Research Fellowship.

During residency and fellowship, he did some postdoctoral work in a laboratory studying the prefrontal cortex. While it was his original intention to continue in laboratory science, he began working on the Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) at UCSF and was excited about brain stimulation technologies and innovative therapies for treatment-resistant depression. He pivoted towards developing an expertise in the use of TMS, ketamine and ECT to help his patients with severe depression.

Dr. Marton joined the faculty at the UCSF Department of Psychiatry and became a staff Psychiatrist at the San Francisco VA Health Care System. He founded the SFVA ketamine infusion clinic and TMS clinic while remaining active in using ECT to help patients. This ketamine clinic was one of the first in the VA system and had a central role in helping to shape larger initiatives within the VA to make ketamine available to veterans with severe depression and PTSD. He also published several papers examining the ketamine clinic’s patient outcomes and developed training programs for psychiatry residents at UCSF to learn about the use of ketamine and TMS in treating psychiatric illness.

Certifications & Memberships

  • Diplomat, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

Publications

Pennybaker S, Roach BJ, Fryer SL, Badathala A, Wallace AW, Mathalon DH, Marton TF. Age affects temporal response, but not durability, to serial ketamine infusions for treatment refractory depression. Psychopharmacology (berl). 2021 August 7. Epub ahead of print.

Marton T, Barnes DE, Wallace A, Woolley JD. Concurrent Use of Buprenorphine, Methadone, or Naltrexone Does Not Inhibit Ketamine’s Antidepressant Activity. Biological Psychiatry. 2019 June 15;85(12):e75-e76.

Marton TF, Seifikar H, Luongo FJ, Lee AT, Sohal VS. Roles of prefrontal cortex and mediodorsal thalamus in task engagement and behavioral flexibility. J. Neurosci. 2018 March 7;38 (10) 2569-2578.

Marton TF, Sohal VS. Of mice, men, and microbial opsins: How optogenetics can help hone mouse models of mental illness. Biological Psychiatry. 2015 Apr 23. Review.

Kaur AW, Ackels T, Kuo TH, Cichy A, Dey S, Hays C, Kateri M, Logan DW, Marton TF, Spehr M, Stowers L. Murine pheromone proteins constitute a context-dependent combinatorial code governing multiple social behaviors. Cell. 2014 Apr 24;157(3):676-88.

Logan DW, Marton TF, Stowers L. Species specificity in major urinary proteins by parallel evolution. PLoS One. 2008 Sep 25;3(9).

Chamero P*, Marton TF*, Logan DW, Flanagan K, Cruz JR, Saghatelian A, Cravatt BF, Stowers L. Identification of protein pheromones that promote aggressive behaviour. Nature. 2007 Dec 6;450(7171):899-902.

Stowers L, Marton TF, What is a pheromone? Mammalian pheromones reconsidered. Neuron. 2005 Jun 2;46(5):699-702. Review.

Hu H, Marton TF, Goodman CS. Plexin B mediates axon guidance in Drosophila by simultaneously inhibiting active Rac and enhancing RhoA signaling. Neuron. 2001 Oct 11;32(1):39-51.

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