David C. Henderson, MD

Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Biography

David C. Henderson, MD, currently serves as Psychiatrist-in-Chief, Division of Psychiatry, at Boston Medical Center and Professor and Chair, Department of Psychiatry, at Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine. Dr. Henderson previously served as Director of The Chester M. Pierce, MD Division of Global Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Director of the MGH Schizophrenia Clinical and Research Program, and Medical Director of the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma. Dr. Henderson serves as Co-Director of the NIMH T32 MGH-BUSM Global Mental Health Clinical Research Fellowship. He has worked internationally for the past 21 years in resource-limited settings, and areas impacted by mass violence, disasters and complex emergencies. Dr. Henderson has conducted research and training programs in Bosnia, Cambodia, East Timor, Ethiopia, Haiti, Liberia, New Orleans, New York City, Rwanda and Peru, South Africa, and Somaliland among other places. His work has consisted of field studies, needs assessments, mental health policy development and strategic planning, quantitative and qualitative surveys, mental health capacity building programs for specialized and primary health professionals, and skill-transfer program evaluation. In the United States, he has conducted more than 30 randomized clinical trials in severely mentally ill populations. Dr. Henderson has also directed a schizophrenia research training fellowship, and mentored trainees and junior faculty who have progressed to K awards and secured other independent funding. He actively mentors 10 psychiatry residents and 4 postdoctoral fellows on data-driven international research projects

Publications

  • Published 1/1/2025

    Rudolph KA, Beaugard CA, Xu C, Syed S, Duncan A, Brown HE, Henderson DC, Oblath R. Psychiatric Emergency Service Use Trends: Adults Experiencing Homelessness in Massachusetts from 2005-2020. J Health Care Poor Underserved. 2025; 36(1):240-256. PMID: 39957648.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 11/8/2024

    Deo AJ, Castro VM, Baker A, Carroll D, Gonzalez-Heydrich J, Henderson DC, Holt DJ, Hook K, Karmacharya R, Roffman JL, Madsen EM, Song E, Adams WG, Camacho L, Gasman S, Gibbs JS, Fortgang RG, Kennedy CJ, Lozinski G, Perez DC, Wilson M, Reis BY, Smoller JW. Validation of an ICD-Code-Based Case Definition for Psychotic Illness Across Three Health Systems. Schizophr Bull. 2024 Nov 08; 50(6):1482-1488. PMID: 38728421.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 5/1/2024

    Owusu MB, Ogundare T, Ghebrehiwet S, Sharma M, Henderson MC, Durham MP, Borba CPC, Ojediran B, Henderson DC, Harris BL. Curriculum development in Liberia's first postgraduate psychiatry training programme. BJPsych Int. 2024 May; 21(2):40-43. PMID: 38693958.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 2/29/2024

    Deo AJ, Castro VM, Baker A, Carroll D, Gonzalez-Heydrich J, Henderson DC, Holt DJ, Hook K, Karmacharya R, Roffman JL, Madsen EM, Song E, Adams WG, Camacho L, Gasman S, Gibbs JS, Fortgang RG, Kennedy CJ, Lozinski G, Perez DC, Wilson M, Reis BY, Smoller JW. Validation of an ICD-code-based case definition for psychotic illness across three health systems. medRxiv. 2024 Feb 29. PMID: 38464074.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 2/27/2024

    Lawal SA, Adedeji IA, Ogunniyi A, Henderson D. Social domains of poor mental health: A qualitative pilot study of community stakeholders' understanding and demarcation of mental illness and its interpretations in rural Nigeria. Health Sci Rep. 2024 Feb; 7(2):e1922. PMID: 38420202.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 187 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Other Positions

  • Chair, Psychiatry
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Assistant Dean, Diversity & Inclusion
    Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Websites

Education

  • University of Massachusetts Medical School, MD
  • Tufts University, BS

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