Dr. Akil is a Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine and the Vice Chair for Education at MedStar Behavioral Health.

Dr. Akil completed medical school at the University of Damascus and trained as a psychiatrist at the University of Michigan. She completed a research fellowship with Dr. David Lewis at the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh. She then joined the faculty at the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology where she worked with patients, created a neuroscience and neuropsychiatry course for residents and conducted basic research on the pathopysiology of schizophrenia.

Dr. Akil moved to the Intramural Program at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in 1996 where she continued her basic research. She was later appointed as a Senior Advisor to NIMH Director from 2003 to 2012. At NIMH, Dr. Akil identified the need for neuroscience education in psychiatry and undertook a number of efforts to promote it. She started the tradition of “Brain Camp”, developed neuroscience educational modules and promoted the importance of neuroscience education to psychiatry nationally and internationally.

Dr. Akil joined the Department of Psychiatry at Georgetown University in 2007. As the Vice Chair for education, she is in charge of Medical Student Education, Residency Training Programs, a psychology training porogram and two fellowships. Dr. Akil is involved in the teaching and training of medical students, residents and fellows in the department of Psychiatry and at the school of medicine. Her clinical focus is on mood and anxiety disorders and she directs the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Program at Georgetown.

Dr. Akil is a member of the American College of Psychiatrists, a fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a member of the Board of the National Neuroscience Curriculum Initiative. Dr. Akil is the recipient of numerous awards including the Health & Human Services Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service, The society for Biological Psychiatry Educator award and the Louis F. Rittelmeyer, Jr., MD, Teaching Award from Georgetown University. She is the author of over 30 peer reviewed publications.