Welcome from the Chair

The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine offers a wide array of exceptional educational and research programs aimed at teaching future generations of psychiatrists and psychologists; improving the diagnosis and treatment of patients with psychiatric disorders; and advancing our understanding of the biopsychosocial origins of these disorders.

The Department’s educational programs include courses and clinical rotations in undergraduate medical education, a PhD program in clinical psychology, a residency program in adult psychiatry, clinical fellowships in Child, Geriatric and Addiction Psychiatry, research fellowships, and continuing education for practicing mental health professionals. Our Psychiatry Residency Training Program is rated among the nation’s top psychiatry residency programs in psychiatry.

Students, residents, and fellows benefit from learning in diverse clinical environments, including Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago, Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Norman and Ida Stone Institute of Psychiatry, and the specialty clinics and programs supported by Northwestern Memorial Faculty Foundation.

Our department features several nationally recognized research programs:

• Asher Center for the Study and Treatment of Depressive Disorders: clinical and basic neuroscientists work to improve our understanding of mood disorders and their treatment
• Northwestern University Schizophrenia Research Group: focused on improving our understanding of the neurocognitive deficits associated with psychotic disorders and their basis in brain structure and function
• Psycho-Legal Studies Program: works to improve our understanding of the criminalization of the mentally ill, the antecedents of violence, and juvenile delinquency
• Mental Health Services and Policy Program: develops and assesses the impact of new programs to improve mental health services across the lifespan
• Program in Psychiatric Genetics: conducts research to identify the genes that increase susceptibility to schizophrenia and other major mental disorders

Thank you for your interest in our department. Please contact us at (312)926-2323 with comments or questions.

Sincerely,

John G. Csernansky, MD
Chair, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Lizzie Gilman Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences