Ronald S. Duman, PhD

Dr. Ronald S. Duman is Professor of Psychiatry and Neurobiology and Director of the Abraham Ribicoff Research Facilities at the Yale University School of Medicine. Studies from Dr. Duman’s laboratory have contributed to the characterization of the molecular and cellular actions of stress, depression, and antidepressants providing the basis for a neurotrophic and synaptic hypothesis of depression. This hypothesis is based on work demonstrating that chronic administration of a typical antidepressant or a single dose of a rapid acting agent like ketamine blocks or reverses the neuronal atrophy that is caused by stress and depression. Dr. Duman’s work has demonstrated that increased neurotrophic factor levels and increased synapse formation underlie the actions of rapid acting antidepressants. These findings represent major advances in our understanding of the effects of antidepressants and provide a framework for the development of novel therapeutic agents. More recent studies from Dr. Duman’s laboratory have focused on the cellular mechanisms underlying traumatic stress, including transcriptomic and proteomic studies of postmortem brain tissue from PTSD subjects, and studies of novel rapid acting agents for the treatment of PTSD. Dr. Duman has been the recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Anna-Monika Prize, Nola Maddox Falcone Prize, Janssen Prize, NIMH MERIT Award, and a NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Award. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Duman is author of over 300 original articles, reviews and chapters and has given over 250 invited lectures. He has also served as a consultant to Pfizer, Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Lundbeck, Taisho, Naurex, Navitor, and Allergan.