Kafui Dzirasa

A. Eugene and Marie Washington Presidential Distinguished Professor

Appointments and Affiliations

• A. Eugene and Marie Washington Presidential Distinguished Professor
• Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
• Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering
• Professor in Neurobiology
• Professor in Neurosurgery
• Investigator in the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences

Contact Information

• Office Location: Bryan Research Bldg, Room 361, Durham, NC 27710
• Office Phone: (919) 681-7371
• Email Address: kafui.dzirasa@duke.edu
• Websites:

Education

• Duke University School of Medicine, 2016
• M.D. Duke University School of Medicine, 2009
• Ph.D. Duke University, 2007

Awards, Honors, and Distinctions

• Elected Member. National Academy of Medicine. 2021
• HHMI Investigator. Howard Hughes Medical Institute. 2021

Courses Taught

• BME 791: Graduate Independent Study
• NEUROBIO 393: Research Independent Study
• NEUROBIO 793: Research in Neurobiology
• NEUROSCI 493: Research Independent Study 1
• NEUROSCI 494: Research Independent Study 2

In the News

• First Presidential Distinguished Chair Named in Honor of Chancellor Washington, Awarded to Dzirasa (Jun 15, 2023 | Duke School of Medicine)
• Dzirasa Elected Member of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (Mar 29, 2023 | Duke Today)
• Two Duke Faculty Have Won the NIH’s Prestigious Pioneer Award (Oct 3, 2022)
• Duke Scientists Find Brain Network That Makes Mice Mingle (Mar 15, 2022)
• Kafui Dzirasa Elected to National Academy of Medicine (Oct 19, 2021 | School of Medicine)
• Two Duke Brain Scientists Named Howard Hughes Investigators (Sep 17, 2021)
• A Call for Action on Structural Racism in Scientific Funding (Oct 30, 2020 | School of Medicine)
• For Black Scientists, the Sorrow Is Also Personal (Jul 21, 2020)
• Dr. Kafui Dzirasa: For Black Scientists, the Sorrow Is Also Personal (Jul 21, 2020)
• Graduate School Inducts Three into Outstanding Alumni Society (Aug 30, 2019 | Graduate School)
• General Anesthesia Hijacks Sleep Circuitry to Knock You Out (Apr 18, 2019)
• Dzirasa and Cook Named to American Society for Clinical Investigation (Dec 14, 2018)
• Building a Better Brain (Aug 6, 2018 | Duke Medicine Alumni Magazine)
• Networks of Brain Activity Predict Vulnerability to Depression (Mar 1, 2018 | Duke University)
• Chatter in the Deep Brain Spurs Empathy in Rats (Jun 23, 2017)
• Inspiring the Young African-American Physician-Scientist (Feb 15, 2017)
• Dr. Kafui Dzirasa Discusses the Next Big Idea in Brain Research (Oct 18, 2016)
• Duke Brain Researchers Receive Award From Keck Foundation (Aug 9, 2016)
• Control Of A Timekeeping Circuit In The Brain Alters Mood (Jun 23, 2016)
• Neuroscientist Kafui Dzirasa Honored at White House (May 9, 2016)
• Dr. Kafui Dzirasa: A look at mania (Apr 14, 2016 | PBS “Ride the Tiger” documentary)
• Neuroscientist Kafui Dzirasa Earns Presidential Early Career Award (Feb 19, 2016)
• Allen Song Named Interim Director of Brain Institute (Jun 26, 2015)
• New study identifies why some deal with stress better (Jul 30, 2014 | USA Today)
• A New Brain-Based Marker of Stress Susceptibility (Jul 29, 2014)

Representative Publications

• Kirchner, SJ; Lei, V; Kim, PT; Patel, M; Shannon, JL; Corcoran, D; Hughes, D; Waters, DK; Dzirasa, K; Erdmann, D; Coers, J; MacLeod, AS; Zhang, JY, An aging-susceptible circadian rhythm controls cutaneous antiviral immunity., Jci Insight, vol 8 no. 20 (2023) [10.1172/jci.insight.171548] [abs].
• Widge, AS; Jordan, A; Kraguljac, NV; Sullivan, CRP; Wilson, S; Benton, TD; Alpert, JE; Carpenter, LL; Krystal, JH; Nemeroff, CB; Dzirasa, K, Structural Racism in Psychiatric Research Careers: Eradicating Barriers to a More Diverse Workforce., American Journal of Psychiatry, vol 180 no. 9 (2023), pp. 645-659 [10.1176/appi.ajp.20220685] [abs].
• Mays, A; Byars-Winston, A; Hinton, A; Marshall, AG; Kirabo, A; August, A; Marlin, BJ; Riggs, B; Tolbert, B; Wanjalla, C; Womack, C; Evans, CS; Barnes, C; Starbird, C; Williams, C; Reynolds, C; Taabazuing, C; Cameron, CE; Murray, DD; Applewhite, D; Morton, DJ; Lee, D; Williams, DW; Lynch, D; Brady, D; Lynch, E; Rutaganira, FUN; Silva, GM; Shuler, H; Saboor, IA; Davis, J; Dzirasa, K; Hammonds-Odie, L; Reyes, L; Sweetwyne, MT; McReynolds, MR; Johnson, MDL; Smith, NA; Pittman, N; Ajijola, OA; Smith, Q; Robinson, RAS; Lewis, SC; Murray, SA; Black, S; Neal, SE; Andrisse, S; Townsend, S; Damo, SM; Griffith, TN; Lambert, WM; Clemons, WM, Juneteenth in STEMM and the barriers to equitable science., Cell, vol 186 no. 12 (2023), pp. 2510-2517 [10.1016/j.cell.2023.05.016] [abs].
• Nguyen, M; Chaudhry, SI; Desai, MM; Dzirasa, K; Cavazos, JE; Boatright, D, Gender, Racial, and Ethnic and Inequities in Receipt of Multiple National Institutes of Health Research Project Grants., Jama Network Open, vol 6 no. 2 (2023) [10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.0855] [abs].
• Locklear, T; Lewis, R; Calhoun, F; Li, A; Dickerson, KC; McMillan, A; Davis, L; Dzirasa, K; Weinfurt, KP; Grambow, SC, Advancing workforce diversity by leveraging the Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSA) program., Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, vol 7 no. 1 (2023) [10.1017/cts.2022.489] [abs].