Adrienne C. Lahti, M.D., has been named chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Medicine.
Lahti is a graduate of the Université de Liège, Faculté de Médecine, in Liège, Belgium. She completed her residency training in Psychiatry at the University of Michigan and started her academic career at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland in Baltimore, as a research assistant professor. In 2006, she moved to the UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology as an associate professor. She was named the F. Cleveland Kinney Endowed Chair and has been serving as interim chair since March 2020.
Lahti, a physician-scientist, is pursuing research dedicated to the study of schizophrenia and psychosis spectrum disorders using multimodal brain imaging techniques. She has won several honors and awards for her research, including the Kempf Fund Award for Research Development in Psychobiological Psychiatry and the McNulty Civitan Scientist Award. Additionally, Lahti has authored or co-authored over 145 peer-reviewed articles and several book chapters.
At UAB, she has pioneered growth in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology through her numerous leadership endeavors. She has served as vice chair for Research Training and Faculty Development, director of the division of Behavioral Neurobiology, and on several departmental committees. Lahti is presently serving as the director of the Comprehensive Neuroscience Center (CNC), and the co-director of the Alabama Advanced Imaging Consortium.
“I have been with the department for 14 years now, and I have come to appreciate how impressive the department is through its excellent faculty and staff,” Lahti said. “It is thus an honor for me to serve as chair. I hope to build its already formidable strengths by continuing to improve clinical care for patients with psychiatric conditions, advancing research aimed at improving mental health, and training future clinicians and scientists.”
The Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology is committed to research and patient care, with a focus on enhancing the understanding of psychiatric disorders to benefit patients with these serious illnesses. The department utilizes relationships between laboratory research and clinical areas to facilitate the flow of information and translational integration of research findings, with the goal of developing innovative and novel clinical interventions.
“Dr. Lahti is a skilled physician-scientist whose passion and knowledge is an exceptional fit for the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology,” said Selwyn M. Vickers, M.D., FACS, senior vice president for Medicine and dean of the School of Medicine. “Under her leadership, the department can continue to focus on research, discovery, and patient care.”
Lahti will officially assume the role of chair on January 1, 2021.