We are delighted to announce that Andrea Young will become assistant dean for graduate biomedical education and graduate student diversity effective Sept. 1. Dr. Young is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In her new position, she will succeed Damani Piggott, who served in this role before taking on leadership of the Vivien Thomas Scholars Initiative. We thank Dr. Piggott for his exceptional service as assistant dean. 

Dr. Young earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Washington University in St. Louis and a doctorate in clinical psychology from Duke University. She completed a pre-doctoral internship at Virginia Commonwealth University, and a postdoctoral research fellowship in child and adolescent mood disorders at the Ohio State University. Dr. Young came to Johns Hopkins as a faculty member in 2015. She is a National Institutes of Health-funded investigator who focuses on how quality mental health services affect long term psychosocial outcomes, particularly among youths who are at risk for mood disorders and underserved groups. 

Dr. Young has been active in diversity efforts throughout her time at Johns Hopkins. She is a member of the Department of Psychiatry’s Diversity Committee, and she organizes and hosts a talk series on the impact of social oppression on mental health. Dr. Young has mentored high school, college and graduate students, and postdoctoral trainees. She is a faculty adviser for Dismantling Systemic Shortcomings in Education and Clinical Training — a national, graduate student-led organization that creates, collates and disseminates open-access resources to measure, evaluate and advance anti-racist initiatives in clinical psychology and related graduate training programs. She has also been a mentor in the Maternal Child Health-Leadership Education, Advocacy and Research Network at the Kennedy Krieger Institute.

As assistant dean for graduate biomedical education and graduate student diversity, Dr. Young will serve as an adviser, advocate and role model for graduate students, and will support their academic achievement and career development. She will also work to strengthen the recruitment and success of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine’s diverse graduate student community, and will implement initiatives to foster a culture that values inclusion, diversity and student well-being.