R. Alison Adcock, MD, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, received the Duke University School of Medicine’s Excellence in Professionalism Award.
This award recognizes faculty members who exemplify professionalism and personify Duke’s guiding principles of respect, trustworthiness, diversity, teamwork, and learning.
One nominator wrote, “There is no doubt that Alison has committed her life to excellence. She is brilliant and uses her brains and passion to produce excellent research, mentor students, and run the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and DIBS [the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences]. In addition, she serves as the trusted psychiatrist for countless patients in her practice every Monday.”
“There is no doubt that Alison has committed her life to excellence. She is brilliant and uses her brains and passion to produce excellent research, mentor students, and run the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience and DIBS [the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences].”
Another letter summarized, “She raises up her graduate students and post-docs in their science and careers. She treats people not as a means to her ends but with respect and true empathy.”
Adcock, a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, serves as director of the Duke Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. Her research aims to support mental health and human flourishing by developing an understanding of how our motivations tune our brains for learning and thus shape our memories.
Work in her laboratory has used changes in motivation to reveal previously unknown brain mechanisms for adaptive memory, developed new methods for learning to regulate motivations, and pioneered cognitive neurostimulation using MRI neurofeedback. Their findings point to new tools appropriate for early interventions and have informed new educational programs that prioritize agency and resilience for student achievement and mental health.
Adcock has mentored many learners at all levels, treated students at Duke's Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), and supervises residents in the Behavioral Health Outpatient Clinic.
A faculty member since 2007, Adcock also holds appointments in the psychology and neuroscience department and the neurobiology department. In addition, she’s a faculty network member of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences and an affiliate of the Center for Brain Imaging and Analysis.
Learn more about all the 2025 School of Medicine faculty and staff award winners.