Erica Martin Richards, MD, PhD

Erica M. Richards, M.D., Ph.D., is the chair and medical director of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health at Sibley Memorial Hospital, as well as an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Dr. Richards completed a combined M.D./Ph.D. program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine to earn a Doctor of Philosophy in Neuroscience degree and a Doctor of Medicine degree. She completed a combined psychiatry and internal medicine internship at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, followed by a residency in The Johns Hopkins Hospital Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, where she served as chief resident. Dr. Richards also completed a clinical research fellowship at the National Institute of Mental Health, where she went on to serve as an attending physician. Dr. Richards previously taught as an assistant professor of psychiatry at Georgetown University Medical Center. 

Dr. Richards is a member of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology and the American Psychiatric Association. She previously served as the founder and instructor for the Research Assistant Clinical Training Workshop; a National Institute of Mental Health representative for the National Institutes of Health Clinical Fellows Committee; and a board member for the National Institute of Mental Health Fellows Committee. 

Dr. Richards has earned the Top Poster Award for Clinical Research by the Society of Biological Psychiatry; a Travel Award by the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology; a Young Investigator Award by the Career Development Institute for Bipolar Disorder; a New Investigator Award for the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology; as well as several other distinctions during her years of study. 

Dr. Richards has contributed to numerous publications with her research interests on investigating the role of inflammation in the pathophysiology of mood disorders, identifying potential biomarkers of depression and treatment response, and elucidating the mechanism of action of ketamine's antidepressant effects. The National Institutes of Health and the American Heart Association have both provided funding for her research on the effects of heart attack and stroke on the brain, specifically on mitochondrial function following ischemia.