Richard K. Harding, M.D. Chair

I served on the faculty of the Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science for over 20 years before I took on the leadership as Chair in 2003. It is a role that I accepted with pride, and I welcomed the opportunity to guide a strong, vibrant department into what promises to be an exciting future.

As the department has grown over the past decade, so have the resources available through the skills and expertise of our faculty. Faculty members include a world-renowned autism specialist, a national expert on capital punishment evaluations, and other physicians who serve as influential advisors to the federal government.

Through University Specialty Clinics we provide consultation, evaluation and treatment to adults, adolescents and children for a broad range of psychiatric and neurological disorders. Our physicians have established a reputation for their assessment skills, receiving statewide referrals of complex, multifaceted cases that require careful assessment of the individual and the family. Our children’s services address a critical need for pediatric psychiatric care in South Carolina, particularly with our posttraumatic stress disorder and autism clinics. We are also using telemedicine technology to make psychiatry consultation services accessible to rural communities. Our neurology division provides consultation for a variety of neurological disorders, as well as Transcranial Doppler readings and EEG services.

We offer residency programs in general psychiatry and child psychiatry, providing residents with a comprehensive educational experience involving a number of hospitals, schools, and community agencies. A forensic psychiatry fellowship, offered in conjunction with William S. Hall Institute, is one of the first accredited forensic psychiatry programs in the country. Fellows have the opportunity to develop their skills through evaluation of high profile criminals in South Carolina and exposure to a range of civil forensic issues, including malpractice, civil commitment and disability.

The Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science is involved in a broad scope of ongoing research studies. Our physicians are currently studying the effectiveness of structured diagnostic interviews with children hospitalized for psychiatric admissions. They are also involved in assessing AHDH in schools and the relationship between diabetes and depression in children. The Neurology Division is pursing research on stroke prevention and treatment. Current forensic research is focused on psychiatric and neurological characteristics of murder defendants, and juror and lawyer understanding of mental illness and mental illness verdicts.