Academic medicine

...is entrusted with improving the health of individuals, communities, and populations.  And in academic psychiatry and the behavioral sciences, we have a special responsibility to advance understanding of the nature of the brain and of behavior and to explore the role of personal meaning and the therapeutic relationship in human health -- not only to lessen the burden of disease in the world but also to foster wellbeing, resilience and strengths for generations to come.

Our department is inspired.

Our department takes on the hardest problems.

Our department is a hothouse of creativity.

Our department is a community in which we value all people.

Our department makes connections and works shoulder-to-shoulder.

Our department is home to leaders, innovators, and learners creating the path to a better future.

Every one of us, no matter our circumstance, is touched by the personal and societal impact of mental illness.  

The leaders, innovators, and learners of our department understand this.  We envision a better world – a world of improved health and lessened burdens of mental illness.  We imagine a future in which children, adults, and elders lives each day well and encounter life’s inevitable challenges with strength. And we are creating the path to this better future.

Laura Roberts, M.D., M.A.
Chairman
The Katharine Dexter McCormick and Stanley McCormick Memorial Professor
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Stanford University School of Medicine

For more about the department's mission in a message from the Chair