Lisanby To Direct NIMH Division of Translational Research

Dr. Sarah Hollingsworth Lisanby

Dr. Sarah Hollingsworth Lisanby has joined NIMH as director of the Division of Translational Research (DTR). She comes from Duke University School of Medicine, where she was chair of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and J.P. Gibbons professor of psychiatry. Prior to that, she was chief of the division for brain stimulation and neuromodulation at Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute and professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia.

Lisanby is a leading researcher in the area of neuromodulatory interventions for treating major depression. She has received numerous awards for her research, including the Max Hamilton Memorial Prize of the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the Klerman Prize from what is now the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation and the Eva King Killam Research Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.  

In addition to research, Lisanby has served on numerous advisory panels, editorial boards and professional associations. She has served as president of the Association for Convulsive Therapy (now the International Society of ECT and Neurostimulation) and the International Society for Transcranial Stimulation and as chair of the American Psychiatric Association task force to revise the practice of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

As DTR director, Lisanby will oversee a research funding portfolio of about $400 million and help set a national agenda for research on mental illness.