Susan G. Kornstein, M.D.

Susan G. Kornstein, M.D., joined the MCV Foundation board in 2017.

She currently chairs the Governance Committee and serves on the Development Committee, Personnel & Compensation Committee, Excess Reserve Fund Committee, and Executive Committee. She has previously served as corporate secretary and on the Communications Committee, Grant Review Committee, and Award Selection Committee.

Dr. Kornstein has been a clinician, teacher and researcher at VCU Health for more than 30 years. She is a professor of psychiatry and obstetrics & gynecology in the VCU School of Medicine and executive director of the VCU Institute for Women’s Health, a university-wide institute that she co-founded in 1999. She has served in a number of other leadership roles at VCU including chair of the Division of Outpatient Psychiatry, medical director of the VCU Clinical Trials Office, and director of clinical research for the Department of Psychiatry. She also has chaired the VCU Committee on Endowed Chairs and Professorships for the past 20 years.

Dr. Kornstein is an internationally known researcher in depression and women's mental health who has been principal investigator (PI) on more than 90 grants totaling over $30 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, Department of Health and Human Services, and industry; she is currently PI on three federal grants totaling $10 million. She is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Women's Health, editor-in-chief of Women’s Health Reports, past president of the International Association for Women’s Mental Health, past president of the North American Society for Psychosocial Obstetrics and Gynecology, past president of the Academy of Women’s Health, and a past member of the NIH Advisory Council for Research on Women’s Health. She is chair of the annual Health of Women Conference and a lead organizer of the World Congress on Women’s Mental Health.

Dr. Kornstein has authored 169 scientific journal articles, 24 book chapters, and over 200 scientific abstracts. She has been a guest editor for many scientific journals and has given numerous invited presentations at national and international conferences. She is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a Fellow of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology, and an invited member of the American College of Psychiatrists. She has been a consultant to the U.S. Surgeon General, DHHS, NASA, and many pharmaceutical companies on women’s mental health concerns and has served on numerous national scientific advisory boards. She has given over 100 media interviews, including the New York Times, CNN, U.S. News and World Report, Science Magazine, People Magazine, and many women’s magazines.

Dr. Kornstein has been the recipient of many awards for her research, service and leadership. She received the American Medical Women’s Association (AMWA) award for lifetime contributions to the field of women’s health, the VCU Women in Science, Dentistry, and Medicine (WISDM) professional achievement award, the YWCA Outstanding Woman Award in Health & Science, Psychiatric Society of Virginia’s Distinguished Service Award, Best Doctors in America, the Lilly Welcome Back Award, Medical Marketing & Media’s HealthCare Transformer Award, and she was recently inducted into the Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. 

Dr. Kornstein has served on a number of boards, including the VCU Health System Board (a gubernatorial appointment), the Virginia Premier Health System Board, the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology, Virginia Opera, and many other philanthropic boards. 

Dr. Kornstein earned her M.D. at Brown University and completed her residency and fellowship at VCU Medical Center. She is also a graduate of the Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine Program at Drexel University and the Grace Harris Leadership Institute.