Ronald Stanton Duman PhD

Elizabeth Mears and House Jameson Professor of Psychiatry and Professor of Neurobiology and of Pharmacology; Director, Abraham Ribicoff Research Facilities

Biographical Info

Dr. Duman received his doctorate degree from the University of Texas in Houston and conducted postgraduate work at Yale University before joining the faculty there. He has written and/or co-authored over 250 original papers, reviews and book chapters, and has presented over 150 invited lectures. Dr. Duman is also on the editorial board of several prestigious journals and serves as a consultant for a number of biotech and pharmaceutical companies.

Dr. Duman’s work has focused on the molecular and cellular actions of antidepressants and stress, providing the basis for a neurotrophic hypothesis of depression. This hypothesis is based on work demonstrating that chronic antidepressant treatment increases the expression of neurotrophic factors, and increases the proliferation of new neurons and glia in the adult brain. These effects counteract the atrophy and cell loss that is caused by stress and that is thought to underlie, in part, the pathophysiology of depression. These findings represent groundbreaking advances in our understanding of antidepressants and provide a framework for developing novel therapeutic agents.

Education & Training

Ph.D.

University of Texas (1984)

Postdoctoral Fellow

Univ Texas, Houston, Pharmacology (1985 - 1986)

Postdoctoral Fellow

Yale University School of Medicine, Psychiatry (1986 - 1988)

Honors & Recognition

• Anna-Monika Award for outstanding research in depression
  Anna-Monika Foundation (2001)
• NARSAD-Nola Maddox Falcone Prize
  NARSAD (2002)
• Dr. Paul Janssen Prize for Psychopharmacology
  Janssen Pharmaceutical Company (2003)
• Congress of International Neuropsychopharmacology Research Award
  CINP (2006)