Alison M. Duncan, MD

Assistant Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

Dr. Alison Duncan is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at BUSM and a child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist at Boston Medical Center, where she is also the Director of Psychiatric Emergency Services. She has both clinical and research expertise in emergency psychiatry, pediatric consult-liaison psychiatry, family communication, suicide, substance use disorders, severe mental illness, ADHD and quality improvement. Dr. Duncan's research currently focuses on:

Improving parent-adolescent communication for parents of adolescents with ADHD using Motivational Interviewing
Exploring the feasibility of implicit association testing for suicidality in the emergency department
Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients with serious mental illness
Emergency psychiatric services utilization


Dr. Duncan's research is currently supported by multiple grants, including the AACAP Pilot Research Award for Attention Disorders, supported by AACAP’s Elaine Schlosser Lewis Fund and the Gennaro Acampora Junior Investigator Pilot Award. Dr. Duncan received her Bachelor’s Degrees in Music Theater and Economics from The Hartt School and The University of Hartford in 1998 and her Medical Degree from The Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine in 2013. She completed her General Psychiatry Residency at The University of New Mexico in 2016 and her Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship at Brown University/Bradley Hospital in 2018, during which time she was also awarded the NIDA-AACAP Resident Training Award in Substance Use Disorders. She is Board Certified in both Adult Psychiatry and in Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Dr. Duncan sings with Coro Allegro, Boston's LGBTQ+ and allied classical chorus. She is often accompanied in the hospital by her dog, Cocoa, whose therapeutic skills are in high demand.

Publications

  • Published 7/11/2026

    Oh S, Herrera CN, Duncan A, Syed S, Xu C, Brown E, Brown H, Henderson D, Were L, Oblath R. Racial and Ethnic Variations in a Multi-Channel Psychiatric Emergency Services Program. Community Ment Health J. 2026 Jul 11. PMID: 42435261.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 7/4/2026

    Muller DWM, Duncan A, Sorajja P, Dahle G, Babaliaros V, Lubos E, Badhwar V, Denti P, Eng MH, Grayburn P, Bethea B, Walters D, Nickenig G, Petronio AS, Donal E, Thourani VH, Mumtaz M, Modine T, Dumonteil N, Obadia JF, Kapadia SR, Guerrero ME, De Medeiros R, McNutt R, Nie H, Chuang M, Blanke P, Conradi L. Five-year outcomes of transcatheter mitral valve replacement in patients with severe symptomatic mitral regurgitation: results from the Tendyne Expanded Clinical Study. ESC Heart Fail. 2026 Jul 04; 13(4). PMID: 42363737.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 6/12/2026

    Ribau ZJ, Subedi S, Vallis LA, Coyle-Asbil HJ, Annis A, Nixon M, Hillyer L, Duncan AM, Haines J, Ma DWL. Clock Gene Variants Are Associated with Energy and Macronutrient Intake in Early Childhood and Adulthood. Nutrients. 2026 Jun 12; 18(12). PMID: 42356293.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 5/20/2026

    Oblath R, Beaugard CA, Herrera CN, Xu C, Syed S, Sadatis C, Duncan A, Gann G, Plange E, Ferguson T, Khan S, Katkhuda F, Henderson DC, Savage J, Morabito MS. Correction: Bridging crisis and care: exploring the role of behavioral health professionals in a police co-response model. Health Justice. 2026 May 20; 14(1). PMID: 42159652.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 5/4/2026

    Duncan A, Ferguson T, Lash T, Oblath R. A Crisis Care Continuum for Children and Adolescents: The Boston Medical Center Model. Child Adolesc Psychiatr Clin N Am. 2026 Jul; 35(3):557-571. PMID: 42297554.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 23 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Websites

Education

  • Geisinger Medical Center School of Nursing, MD
  • University of Hartford, BA
  • University of Hartford, BFA

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