Holly Lisanby

Sarah “Holly” Hollingsworth Lisanby, MD, DLFAPA, an internationally renowned innovator of neuromodulation technologies, has a track record of visionary senior leadership in academic medicine and federal government.  She is the Founding Dean and Foundation Professor of the Arizona State University (ASU) John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering and Professor Emeritus at the Duke University Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.  Prior to her current role at ASU, Dr. Lisanby served as the Founding Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Division of Translational Research which funds a portfolio of research directed towards the discovery of preventions, treatments, and cures for mental illness across the lifespan.  She played a leading role in the NIH BRAIN Initiative, having co-led the team focused on large-scale neural recording and modulation devices, and co-led the Brain Behavior Quantification and Synchronization (BBQS) program which supports the development of next generation hardware, software, and informatics tools to link brain and behavior at high temporal and spatial resolution.  Formerly Chair of the Duke Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Science and JP Gibbons Endowed Professor with Tenure, she founded and directed both the Duke University and the Columbia University Divisions of Brain Stimulation, where she built interdisciplinary research programs specializing in the convergence of Psychiatry, Neuroscience and Engineering.  She also founded and directed the NIMH Noninvasive Neuromodulation Unit (NNU), an intramural research lab specializing in the development and first-in-human testing of novel brain stimulation devices. 

A prolific author with over 300 scientific publications, she has received national and international recognition, including the Distinguished Investigator Award from the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD), the Max Hamilton Memorial Prize of the Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum (CINP), the Gerald Klerman Award from the National Depression and Manic Depression Association (NDMDA), and the Eva King Killam Research Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP).  Dr. Lisanby was elected as a member of the American Association of Physicians, and as a Fellow of the ACNP.  Dr. Lisanby serves on the FDA Neurological Devices Advisory Panel and has held key leadership positions in professional organizations including serving as President of the International Society for ECT and Neurostimulation (ISEN) and Chair of the American Psychiatric Association Task Force to Revise the Practice on Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT).  Dr. Lisanby serves on numerous national and international scientific advisory boards including: the Scientific Advisory Board for the Aalto University School of Science, Netherlands; the Scientific Advisory Board of the Coordination and Support Action for BrainHealth (an EU-funded European Partnership); the Scientific Council of the Brain Behavior Research Foundation; the Scientific Advisory Board of the German Center for Brain Stimulation, a research consortium funded by the German Ministry for Education and Research; and the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) Career Awards for Medical Scientists (CAMS).  A Board-Certified Psychiatrist and Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association (DLFAPA), Dr. Lisanby received her dual BS in Mathematics and Psychology and her MD at Duke University as an Angier Biddle Duke Scholar.  She completed her residency in Psychiatry at Duke, where she served as Executive Chief Resident.