BALTIMORE, July 11, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Mark T. Gladwin, MD, Dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine announced today that Deanna L. Kelly, PharmD, BCPP, a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, has been named Director of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center (MPRC) after serving as Interim Director for three years. Dr. Kelly is a internationally recognized clinician-scientist specializing in the advancement of treatments for psychotic disorders and schizophrenia.
She was honored as a distinguished MPower Professor in the initial cohort and is the first female Director of the psychiatric center in Baltimore. She also served as the Chair of the Institutional Review Board for the Maryland Department of Health and was recently invested with an endowed professorship, the Dr. William and Carol Carpenter Professor of Psychiatry for Mental Illness Research.
A joint program between UMSOM and the Maryland Department of Health, the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center (MPRC) is dedicated to providing treatment for patients with schizophrenia and related disorders, educating professionals and consumers about schizophrenia, and conducting basic and translational research into the condition’s manifestations, causes, and treatments.
During her time as Interim Director of the MPRC, Dr. Kelly continued to serve as Director and Chief of the MPRC’s Treatment Research Program spearheading clinical trials and research to advance personalized treatment options for individuals with schizophrenia including effective medications, innovative dietary interventions, and tailored treatment strategies for women with the condition.
During the past three years, she has successfully recruited three new faculty for the Center including a new lead, Laura Rowland, PhD, to launch the new Translational Imaging Research Program at MPRC. She also expanded collaborations with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, invested in junior faculty advancement, and led new initiatives in metabolic psychiatry. Dr. Kelly has been continuously funded by NIH and private foundations for over 20 years securing over $25 million dollars in funding.
“Deanna Kelly’s leadership and impact in the field of psychopharmacology and schizophrenia for the past 25 years has been extraordinary,” said Dean Gladwin who is also Vice President for Medical Affairs, University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor. “Her passionate approach to academic scholarship and to the members of her team has made her a highly effective interim director of MPRC. I am confident that she will continue to move the Center forward in significant ways with her permanent appointment.”
Dr. Kelly serves as an expert and advocate on clozapine, a life-saving but underutilized medication for schizophrenia. Last year alongside University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) faculty, she successfully briefed Congress and testified before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to drive a groundbreaking vote that removed the FDA’s Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) program for clozapine, which required blood tests and extensive documentation to prescribe. This move helped eliminate an unnecessary obstacle for prescribing the only anti-suicidal medication and drug proven effective for treatment-resistant schizophrenia.
She is also a trailblazer in the emerging field of nutritional and metabolic psychiatry, performing extensive research on the connection between the gut and mental health. She began novel clinical trials to examine the effectiveness of a gluten-free diet in a schizophrenia subgroup to help personalize treatment options.
Additionally, Dr. Kelly is a strong advocate for the role of nutrition in improving psychiatric symptoms, with multiple NIH-funded studies supporting her groundbreaking work. She has been investigating the impact of a ketogenic diet in patients with schizophrenia and is leading an effort to train providers around the state on how to implement this nutrition plan for mental health treatment.
“I am thrilled and honored to move into the permanent director role at MPRC,” said Dr. Kelly. “Over my past three years leading the center on an interim basis, I have learned so much from my colleagues and am eager to take our work to new heights.”
Leading efforts to help train the West Baltimore community in “mental health first aid,” Dr. Kelly started an art and creativity event to highlight the talents of people with schizophrenia. Her effort over the past few years raised over $40,000 for the National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) Maryland. She continues to work with nonprofits, such as Seizing Psych and Schizophrenia & Psychosis Action Alliance, to raise awareness about mental health and schizophrenia; this involves volunteering her time to train local high schoolers, undergraduates, and graduate students around the State.
For her tremendous contributions to the psychiatry field, she has been awarded the Maltz Prize for Innovative and Promising Schizophrenia Research by the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, the Judith J. Saklad Memorial Award by the American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists (AAPP) and was named one of Maryland’s Top 100 Women by The Daily Record. Additionally, she has received several other honors, such as the G. Van Greene Distinguished Lecturer at Mercer University, and was elected as a fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP).
Dr. Kelly is board-certified in psychiatric pharmacy. She received her B.S. and Pharm.D. from Duquesne University and completed her residency in psychiatric pharmacy at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
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SOURCE University of Maryland Medical Center
