Kafui Dzirasa, MD, PhD, training faculty member of Neurobiology and the K. Ranga Rama Krishnan Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, has been elected to the prestigious National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Election to NAM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.
Dzirasa is a psychiatrist and engineer examining the role of brain electricity in mental health disorders. His research involves using engineering approaches to uncover how changes in brain circuits lead to psychiatric illness, including depression, bipolar disorder, and addiction. He aims to develop new devices to repair brain circuits in individuals suffering from these devastating illnesses. Dzirasa was selected to NAM in recognition of his seminal contributions to the neuroscience of emotion and mental illness; for pioneering methods for massively parallel neural recordings and analysis thereof in mice; and for contributions to society through science policy and advocacy, a commitment to mentoring, and support for efforts to build a diverse and inclusive scientific workforce, according to the Academy.